In an Hydroelectric plant, the Main Inlet Valve must guarantee functionality and mechanical reliability. With the needing to be competitive against the low-cost countries we studied a smart solution with the reduction of costs from design, calculation and manufacturing. Hence was very important a structural analysis in depth of the entire valve, checking about the effectiveness of each weakness as well as the optimization of thicknesses by the parameterization of main design. The sub modeling technique was fundamental.
tarting from a “father model” with adequate simplifications and reaching optimal solutions on detailed analysis on sub models, within tight deadlines, the “optimal point” between structural safety and design-tocost has been achieved. By that, we can maintain under control the structural-status by precise FEM calculations in very short times. The set of all these improvements enabled us to reduce costs and gives to us the possibility to get back powerfully in the market.
This project received the award "Ansys Hall of Fame Simulation Competition 2015 – Best in show Corporate”.