High deposition welding of Francis turbine runners for the Three Gorges dam project

摘要

The world's largest hydroelectric project, the Three Gorges dam in China, will comprise 26 Francis turbines for the production of electricity. Each turbine runner is 10m in diameter, weighs 450 tonnes and will generate 700 MW. The runners are made of solid 410 NiMo type martensitic stainless steel (13 percent Cr, 4 percent Ni, 0.5 percent Mo) castings. Welding is used for the assembly and repair of casting defects. ESAB is involved in the production of the runners with consumables and equipment for SAW and GMAW.