Heki at the 33rd IAHR Symposium on Hydraulic Machinery and Systems

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Three PhD students from Heki at Université Laval — William Dubé, Christophe Landry, and Mathieu Métille — recently presented their research at SHMS - IAHR - 2026 | Foz do Iguaçu, held from September 15 to 18, 2026, in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil.

The three contributions focused on topics directly related to the performance, reliability, and diagnostics of hydraulic machinery:

🔹 William Dubé presented “Hydrodynamic signature analysis of a fractured runner blade in Francis turbines using URANS simulations,” a numerical study investigating the effect of a fractured Francis turbine runner blade on the flow characteristics within the turbine.

🔹 Christophe Landry presented “Numerical investigation of the impact of assembly tolerances on the performance of a multistage centrifugal pump,” a study evaluating the influence of assembly tolerances on the performance of a multistage centrifugal pump, while accounting for flow through the clearances.

🔹 Mathieu Métille presented “Co-simulations of variable-speed Francis pump-turbine start-ups: methodology and validation,” a study focusing on the methodology and validation of coupled 1D–3D simulations of variable-speed Francis pump-turbine start-ups. This paper is the result of a collaboration involving several partners, including the Hydro-Lab at HES-SO Valais-Wallis and Heki.

The papers associated with these presentations will soon be available through IOP Publishing.

An important Heki collaborator in the MD-Francis project, Mònica Egusquiza, professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, also presented a case study on monitoring signals associated with Francis turbine runners whose flow passages were blocked by foreign objects:

🔹 Egusquiza M., Houde S., Egusquiza E., Blockage by ingested bodies in Francis turbine runners

This participation highlights the diversity of research activities carried out within Heki and the close collaboration developed with its academic and industrial partners around key challenges in monitoring, diagnostics, modelling, and the reliability of hydraulic machinery.

We would like to thank the partners of the MD-Francis project for their support and for helping make this participation possible at one of the major international events for the hydraulic machinery community: ANDRITZ Hydro, EDF, GE Vernova, Hydro-Québec, Vattenfall, and Voith Hydro.

The MD-Francis project is funded by an Alliance grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), as well as by the Programme de soutien aux organismes de recherche et d’innovation (PSOv4) from InnovÉÉ – Innovation Énergie Électrique.