Author(s): A. Bergant; A. R. Simpson
Linked Author(s): Anton Bergant
Keywords: Water hammer; Column separation; Cavitation inception; Discrete vapourcavity model; Experimental apparatus; Pipeline
Abstract: This paper investigates the influence of the magnitude of cavitation inception pressure on column separation phenomena. During column separation in pipelines, resulting from water hammer events, the pressure can drop below the vapour pressure of the fluid. Experimental results from two configurations of a reservoirpipeline-valve-reservoir system apparatus are presented. “Negative” pressure spikes below the level of vapour pressure head for the fluid were recorded in both these experimental runs. Cavitation inception with a “negative” pressure was incorporated into a numerical model of column separation referred to as the discrete vapour cavity model (DVCM). The numerical model can reproduce the behaviour when an appropriate negative pressure value for cavitation inception is incorporated into the DVCM. The local negative pressure spike at cavitation inception does not significantly affect the column separation phenomena. Inclusion of the occurrence of this phenomena into the DVCM numerical model does not improve the numerical results.
Year: 1999