Innovative Link Protects Wicket Gate Stems

摘要

For 80 years, twisted and broken wicket gate stems were a significant problem at Georgia Power Co.'s 45-MW Tugalo Dam on the Tugaloo River in northeastern Georgia. This problem resulted, in part, because the links for the wicket gate stems were solid, with no necked-down area to facilitate breaking. Eventually, the wicket gates on the vertical Francis turbine-generators reached a point where they no longer would fully close, even with manual adjustments.