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9.14 WATER HAMMER IN PIPES

Introduction
Consider the flow of water between two points A and B in a long pipe as shown in
Fig 9.12. When the valve is suddenly closed, the momentum of flowing water is
destroyed and a wave of high pressure is set up which is transmitted along the pipeline.
This creates noise called knocking and the wave has the effect of hammering action on
the walls of the pipe, hence known as water hammer or hammer blow.

H Valve

A B
V

Fig 9.12 .com

The pressure rise due to water hammer depends upon;

(i) The velocity of flow of water in the pipe

(ii) The speed at which the valve is closed was
(iii) The length of the pipe
(iv) The elastic properties of pipe mate ial as well as that of flowing fluid.
L = length of pipe resource

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The rise in pressure in some cases may be so large that the pipe may even burst.
Hence it is essential to take this pressure into account in the d sign of pipes.
Time Taken by Pressure Wave to Travel From Valve to Tank and Back

Let: t = time taken by pressu wave

Or t  study …(9.1)
C = velocity of pressure wave
Total distance=
C
L+L=2Lvia
 t  dis ance travelledfrom lve totank and back
velocityof pressure wave
2L
This 2L

The following shared cases of water hammer in pipes are to be

considered;
Valve closure is said to be; 2L
 (i) Gradual (slow) if t 
C
(ii) Sudden if t  C
Cases of water hammer in Pipes:

(i) Gradual closure of valve

(ii) Instantaneous closure of valve in rigid pipes
(iii) Instantaneous closure of valve in elastic pipes

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(i) Pressure Due to Gradual Closure of Valve

Consider a long pipe conveying a liquid (Fig 9.12) and provided with a valve
which is closed gradually.
Let A = area of cross-section of the pipe
L = length of pipe
V= velocity of flow through pipe
t = time in seconds required to close valve
p= intensity of pressure wave produced
Due to gradual closure, water is brought from initial velocity V to zero velocity in
time t seconds.
Retardation of water = change of velocity/time
=V  0  V
t t
Axial force producing retardation = mass of water in pipe AB × retardation
=ρAL× V …(i)
t
Force due to pressure wave,
= pressure × area of pipe was com
= p ×A .
…(ii)
Equating equations (i) and (ii);
ρAL × V = p ×A
t
p= ρLV …(9.2)
t
Pressure head,
H  p  ρLV  1  ρLV  1  ρLV
w t w t ρg ρgt
or H LV
resource …(9.3)
gt

Equation (1) gives the relation between Couincreaserseof

pressure Hero
due to water hammer in
the pipe and time required to close lve.

study
via
If t = 0, increa e in pressure seems infinite, but from experiments, this is finite. The equationThisthus valid for incompressible fluids, and rigid pipes.

In the sharecaseofverydhigh pressure, the liquid is compressed to some extent, and

the pipe material also str tch .

(ii) Pressure Due to Instantaneous Closure in Rigid Pipes

Consider pipe AB shown in Fig 9.12 when the valve is closed suddenly. Kinetic
energy (K.E.) of t flowing water is converted to strain energy (S.E.) of water (if friction is
neglected).
Loss of K.E.,
= 1 2 1 2
2 mV  2  ρAL  V
Gain of S.E. of water,
 = mean rise in pressure × volumetric strain of water in pipe × volume

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= p  p AL 1 p 2 AL , where K= bulk modulus of water

2 K 2K
It may be noted that K, like other moduli of elasticity may also be thought of
as stress/strain i.e. p/(dV/V), and is also called the coefficient of compressibility.
Equating K.E. to S.E.,
1 p2
1 ρALV2  AL
2 2K
p  1 ρALV  2K  ρKV
or 2 2 2

2 AL
 K  C
 p  KV 2  KV 2    V K  VC 
   ρ 
 
orC  p …(9.4)
M= was

ρV
. com
Where C is the propagation velocity (or celerity of a pressure ve); and is the sa e
as velocity of sound in a liquid of density ρ.
The above theory is closely related to Mach’s number hich is given as,
V
d = internal diameter ofresourcthepipee
Kρ
(iii) Pressure Due to Instantaneous Closure in Elastic Pipe
Consider pipe AB shown in Fig 9.12 when the valve is clos d suddenly.
Let: E = modulus of elasticity of the pipe material
 = Poison’s ratio for the pipe material ( =1/4, and varies from 0.25 to 0.34
for mild steel)
p = increase in pressure due to water hammer

t = thickness of pipe wall (small mpared to outside diameter D of the pipe)

C= circumferential stress in pipe
L= longitudinal stress in pipe
Sudden closure of valve produces a wave of high pressure of intensity p, which
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causes circumferen ial and longitud n l stresses in the pipe wall.

Original K.E. of fluid will be converted partly into S.E. of the fluid, and partly into
S.E. of pipe. study
via
Cons der length of pipe, x ;
Volume of fluid in length x = π d 2 x

This 1
Origin l K.E. of mV
2
4
2 = 1     d2 x  V2

2
fluid,
4
S.E. of fluid = mean rise in pressure ×volumetric strain× volume
p p  2
1 p2  2
shared=   dx   dx
2 K 4 2 K 4
From knowledge of strength of materials,
σ σ
Longitudinal strain of pipe = L  μ C
E E
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Circumferential strain in pipe = σC μ σ

L

E E
 S.E. stored in the pipe material per unit volume of pipe wall,
1 stress  strain
  average stress  strain  
2
1 σ L  μ σ C   1 σ C  μ σ L 
σL  σC  
2  E E 2  E E

 21E σL2  σC2  2μσCσL 

For a thin walled pipe, it can be shown that:
σ L  pd and σ C  pd
4t 2t
 Total S.E. stored in pipe material,
was com
 2 
 dx 
= S.E. per unit volume of pipe material × total volume of pipe material
 1   2   pd  2  pd   πdtx
 pd  pd 
2E  4t   2t   2t  4t  

  .

1
p
or 1 ρV 2 = 2  p

 p2 d2 p2 d2 resourc22e2
2d C our
p2 d2 
5  4μ seH ero
2E 4t 8t 
 16t
2 2
 dx  p d  1  1 2 
 
2E 4t 2
4 
 d2 x  p 2 d 1 4  4
4 24E
 d2 x  p 2 d 5  4
4 24E
Original K.E. of fluid = S.E. of fluid + S.E. of pipe
study  2K 2  4Et 
1π 2
xρ V2 = 1  p  π d 2 x + πd x  p d 5  4μ
2 4 2K 44 2  4Et

2 2K
via

2  4Et

This shared
=p2 1 

d 5  4μ



1 2
V
 pV 2 V  V 
1 5  4 1 d  1 d 5  4
 2  5  4 

2K 2 4Et  2K 2 4Et  K 4Et
Since μ  1 (for mild steel pipes)
4
 pV ρ …(9.5)
 1  d
K tE

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Derivation of equations for longitudinal stress (L), and hoop stress (C):
 Longitudinal stress,  L:
Consider a thin walled pipe acted upon by pressure due to water hammer as
shown in Fig 9.13 (a).
p π x
d 2

4 H

d
L

t
(a) (b)
Fig 9.13

Due to pressure on the ends of the cylinder, there is longitudinal stress in the
cylinder wall.
Total force on the end of the cylinder wall due to fluid pressure p,
= pressure × area was com
 2
.

=p4d …(i)
Force due to longitudinal stress L in the pipe wall to count ract fluid pressure,
= stress × mean circumferential thickness
 σL  πd  t (approximately) …(ii)
(If D is taken as mean diameter, then area of wall tube is πDt exactly)
For equilibrium, equate forc in equations (i) and (ii);
 σ L  πd  t = p   d
2

Longitudinal stress, σ L
reso urce  pd …(9.6)

 Hoop stress,
study CourseHero
C:
4t

Now consider equilibrium of w ll and contents of a length x of half the cylinder

as shown in Fig 9.13 (b);
Due to fluid pressure, there is downward force,
= pressure × area
= p×xd via …(iii)
is force must be balanced by upward force due to circumferential C (or hoop
stress H),
This = stress × area
= H×2(x×t) …(iv)
Equating equations (iii) and (iv);
pd
shared ×2( H

x×t) = p×xd
Hoop stress,  C=  H = …(9.7)
2t
In the above equations, p is the gauge pressure.
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Velocity of Pressure Wave in a Fluid:

The velocity of pressure wave (same as velocity of sound) transmitted through a fluid
depends on the density and the bulk modulus of the fluid.
Consider a tube of fluid of unit cross-sectional area, through which a pressure wave
is being transmitted from right to left as shown in Fig 9.14, having velocity V. Now bring
the wave to rest by imagining the fluid to have a velocity V in the opposite direction.
At section A, let p, v, and V be the intensity of pressure, velocity and the volume
respectively. Let the corresponding values at section B be (p+dp), (v+dv) and (V+dV),
with the maximum pressure occurring at B.
Between sections A and B, pressure increases by dp, and the volume compressed per second
increases by dV.
 

At section A, V= a×v = v, Q area 'a' is unity …(i)

At section B, volume compressed/s, V+dV = a(v+dv) …(ii)
But a =1 and V = v com

Hence, dV = dv (comparing the two equations above)

was .
A B unit rea, a

V V+dV
= mass/s ×change of velocityCourseHero

p p +dp

resource
p +dp

study Fig 9.14

Force on fluid between sections A and B,

= change of momentum per second
via
 p  p  dpa  ρaV  dv
or dp = -ρVdv
But dv = dV
shared

Hence dp = -ρV v
or dp  ρV …(iii)
dV
ThisThe bulk modulus of fluid is
given by;
 increase in pressure
Bulk modulus, K
decrease in volume/ original volume*
[* (decrease in volume/ original volume) = volumetric strain]
 dp dp
K= = -V
-dV/VdV
or dp = -K …(iv)
dV V

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From equations (iii) and (iv),

ρV  K
V
But V = v, then
ρV  K , or v  K
v ρ
The pressure wave is often denoted by C,
C  K …(9.8)
ρ

Example 9.1: Water flows at a velocity of 1.5m/s in a pipe of length 2500m and diameter
500mm Determine the rise in pressure if a valve at the end of the pipe is closed in 25
seconds. Take C= 1460m/s

Solution
Given: V = 1.5m/s, L =2500m, Diameter =0.5m, t=25s, C=1460m/s
The ratio t  2L 2  2500  3.42
C 1460
was com
.

Since t  2L , closure of valve is gradual

C
For gradual closure,
p  ρLV  103  25001.5  150kN/m2
t 25 resource

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Example 9.2: If the valve in Example 9.1 is closed in 2 seconds, determine the pressure
exerted at the valve, assuming the pipe to be rigid. Take Kwater= 2×109N/m2.

The ratio t study 3.54s

Solution
K

2 109 via
C ρ 103 1414m / s
2L 2  2500
This K

1414
3 2

C
t 2L , hence closure of valve is rapid
C
For rapid closu of valve in rigid pipe,
p = ρV == ρVC = 10 ×1.5 ×1414 = 2101kN/m
ρ
Example 9.3:sharIfinedExample 9.1, the thickness of the pipe is 10mm and the valve is

suddenly closed, determine: (a) the rise in pressure (b) the circumferential and
9 2,
longitudinal stress developed in the pipe wall. Take E =200×10 N/m and Kwater=
9 2
2×10 N/m .
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Solution
(a) p  V ρ
1 d
K tE
1.5 103 6
=1.732×10 N/m
2
1  0.5
9
2 10 0.01 200109
= 2
1732 kN/m

(b)
(i) Circumferential stress:
pd 1.732 106 0.5
σC      43.3 106 N / m2 = 43300kN/m2.
2t2  0.01
was

(ii) Longitudinal stress:

com

2
.
pd  21.65106 N / m2 = 21650kN/m .
σL  6
 1.73210  0.5
4t 4  0.01 CourseHero
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