Design and manufacture methodology of a Francis runner crown (French text)

There is a business opportunity on today's market for refurbishing Francis runners because many hydro electrical turbines are over 50 years old and require refurbishing.; Since the customers have to shut down some of their power plants for replacing the parts, the turbine manufacturers face the challenge of supplying runners at very short lead times and at competitive prices. The typical manufacturing cycle time for making a new runner varies between 12 and 16 months. The job consists on making a new runner that is geometrically compatible with the old one and have a level of performance specified by the customer.; The components of a Francis runner are typically made of steel castings. This process is very convenient because of the variety of complex forms that can be made with it. While this process is appropriate for new projects where lead-time is not so critical, it is not effective for refurbishing market where short cycle times and lower prices are very important.; The crown is the largest component of the runner and has the longest manufacturing lead time. For this reason, it has been targeted for cycle time and cost reduction. Alternate manufacturing processes were considered to meet these requirements and to give the company a competitive edge in the refurbishing market.; The goal of this project is to find a faster manufacturing process and create the guidelines for designing a Francis runner crown. This document will describe step by step how to design and manufacture a fabricated Francis runner crown.