Experimental and Numerical Simulation of Water Hammer

Water hammer as an important phenomenon in water distribution networks was studied using experimental and numerical models in two different setups, with and without the surge pipe. The data collected for different discharges and arbitrary time intervals were compared with the results of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). After determining the appropriate grid and turbulence model, the effect of sudden stop of water flow on fluid motion and pipeline was studied by means of FLUENT. The maximum and minimum values of pressure head on the laboratory model were computed within an accuracy range of 0.12-2.64 %. According to the qualitative and quantitative comparisons of results, it was found that CFD could be employed successfully in modeling of the water hammer phenomenon.