Unsteady closed conduit flow

1.0 Introduction and Background

Unsteady flows in engineering practice are of significant Importance and have been the topic of
research since the middle of the nineteenth century. The flow processes are governed by an
equation of motion (momentum) and an equation of Continuity. The solution leads to equations for
pulse wave propagation of disturbances in flow and pressure throughout piping systems.
Visualisation is not easy, so the subject matter is introduced in a simplified form. The arithmetic
and differential equations are developed and the method of analysis is discussed.

Classification of flow. Definitions

In steady flow there is no change in conditions at a point with time. In unsteady flow, conditions at
a point may change with time. Steady flow is a special part of unsteady flow which the unsteady
flow equations must satisfY. uniform flow, the average velocity at any cross-section is the same
at any instant The term water hammer and transient flow are used synonymously to describe
unsteady flow of fluids pipelines, although the use of former is customarily restricted to water.
Steady-oscillatory, or periodic, or pulsatile flow occurs when the flow conditions are identically
repeated in every fixed time interval called the period of oscillation. free vibration of fluid in a
piping system refers to attenuating oscillatory flow at one of the natural periods of the system. The
term surge refers to those unsteady flow situations that can be analysed by considering the fluid to
be compressible and conveyance conduit to be elastic.

Water hammer or fast hydraulic transient is the phenomenon associated with an excessive rise or
decrease of pressure more or less elastic, pressurised conduits conveying compressible liquids.
Such flow conditions occur due to any change in boundary conditions in the system such as;

a. manipulation ofthe valve

Pressure waves created by velocity changes depend on the elastic properties of fluid and conduit
and they propagate throughout the pipeline system at speeds depending upon directly on these
elastic properties.

1.2 Unsteady Analysis

The analysis of unsteady flow in pipeline systems can be divided into two broad categories. The
first, called surge or rigid water column theory treats the fluid as an inelastic substance wherein
pressure changes propagate Instantaneously throughout the system. The elastic properties of the
pipe walls are of no consequence in such an analysis.
The second category of problems is classified under elastic or water hammer theory wherein the
elasticity of both the fluid and pipe walls is taken into account in the calculations

Basically two types of problems occur due to transient phenomenon. Due to the sudden change of
state of flow at a boundary, the positive or negative pressure waves travel upstream or downstream.
The positive surges move to upstream of the boundary if the control mechanism for e.g. valve or a
control gate is suddenly closed, while the negative surges move downstream, if the control
mechanism is opened suddenly. The magnitude of pressure head depends basically on the velocity
and pressure in the system and rate of closure or opening (i.e. how fast the control mechanism is
adjusted). The faster the control mechanism acljusted, the worse conditions the system is subjected
to resulting in basically two phenomena, namely

III high pressure phenomenon resulting in rupture, outburst of conduits

In order to treat the subject matter, the problems have been conceived of two categories for analysis

III Plain water hammer

1.3 Plain water hammer

Once the boundary condition is changed ( unsteadiness occurs) the pressure starts oscillating
around the axis (HGL) of initial state. However, the lowest pressure if, doesn't reach well below the
atmospheric or strictly saying up to the level of vapour pressure( about m of water column
below atmospheric pressure), such phenomenon is treated as plain water hammer. The possible
damage due to the high pressure only can be considered such a case. The disruption in flow
and/or fonnation of cavities are not expected at this stage. Such a situation can be expected when
any ofthe following cases is present:

• the conveyance structure is very short or

1.4 Waterhammer with cavitation

If the magnitude of velocity and pressure at the initial state are sufficiently high, a small disturbance
in the boundary condition may result in high pressure and low pressure attenuation alternatively.
The modest magnitude of pressure and velocity with rapid change in boundary conditions may also
cause same response in the system. If the lowest pressure in such a case reaches up to the level of
vapour pressure, the disruption in flow takes place, the cavities either can be concentrated at one
place, (usually next to the valve, pump or the summit points of the conduits) or throughout pipe
line. Since the same location of the conduit is subjected to high and low pressure, the high pressure
followed by low pressure compresses these cavities which in turn implode resulting in high pressure
locally. If the conduit or the adjacent valve/pump impeller can not sustain these pressures, they will

2.
be damaged.

In order to understand the phenomenon more distinctly, the engineering knowledge of cavitation
can be divided into two somewhat separate fields of interest, cavitation and boiling. A rough but
useful way of distinguishing these two processes is to define cavitation as the process of nucleation
in a liquid when the pressure falls below the vapour pressure, while boiling is the process of
nucleation that occurs when the temperature is raised above the saturated vapourlliquid
temperature. The difference in two processes occur because of the different complicating factors that
occur in a cavitating flow on the one hand and in the temperature gradients and wall effects that
occur in boiling on the other hand.

One may ask, how do cavities/nuclei form in a liquid. It is generally accepted that the natural
liquids contain micro-size nuclei or small cavities. They can be present in the crevices, in dust
particles or in the solid boundary. In case of open channel flow with high velocity, detachment of
flow from the boundary may create cavities. These cavities are filled with vapour and sometimes
with vapour and released gas fonn the liquid due to the low pressure. When these vapour filled
cavities are subjected to higher pressure, the vapour quickly condenses and these bubbles implode,
the cavities being filled suddenly with surrounding water. Not only is this process noisy, with
disruption in the flow pattern, but more importantly, if the cavities implode against a surface for a
period of time, the violent impact of the water particles attack in quick succession at high pressures,
causes substantial damage to the surface of any type of material which can lead to the complete
failure of the structure. This process of opening and collapse of cavities due to presence of negative
pressure in the liquid is known as cavitation.

Types of Cavitation

From the literature, it is found that the following types of cavitation may OCClli.

• Travelling cavitation

This type of cavitation is composed of individual transient cavities or bubbles which fonn in the
liquid and move with the liquids as they expand, shrink and then collapse. Such travelling tranSIent
bubbles may appear at the low-pressure points along a solid boundary or in the high-turbulence
region in a turbulent shear field. The travelling cavities first become visible in the liquid very close
to the guiding boundary surface at or possibly, just downstream from the minimum pressure zone
along the surface. They grow in size during their transient-pressure zone along the surface. They
grow in size during their transit through the low -pressure region and start to collapse slowly after
they are swept into the region in which the pressure exceeds the vapour pressure. Collapse to an
invisible size is often followed by a series of reopenings and re-collapses which suggest pressure
pulsations.

• Fixed cavitation

In fixed cavitation the liquid flow detaches from the rigid boundary of an immersed body or a flow
passage to fonn a pocket or cavity attached to the boundary. Fixed cavities sometimes have the
appearance of a highly turbulent boiling surface. The liquid adjacent to the large- cavity surface
may be observed to contain a multitude of small travelling transient cavities. These travelling
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cavities grow rapidly to nearly their maximum size at the upper end of the main cavity and remain
fairly constant until they reach the downstream end of the cavity and disappear with implosion. If
they implode near the surface of the boundary, they may destroy the surface.

• Vortex cavitation

In vortex cavitation, the cavities are found in the cores of vortices which foun in zones of high
shear. The cavitation may appears travelling cavities or as a fixed cavity. Vortex cavitation is one of
earliest observed types, since it often occurs on the blade tips of ship's propellers. This type of
cavitation is also referred as "tip'" cavitation. Another illustrative example of this type may be
found in the flow around baffle piers downstream of spillway chutes. The inherent characteristics of
this type of cavitation shows that slow rates of collapse and low collapse pressures are usually
expected in this case.

• Vibratory cavitation

In vibratory cavitation, the flowing liquid usually passes the cavitation zone more than once
because of the low velocity. The forces causing the cavities to fonn and collapse are due to a
continuous series of high-amplitude, high-frequency pressure pulsations in the liquid. These
pressure pulsation are generated by a submerged surface which vibrates nounal to its face and sets
up pressure waves in the liquid. The driving surface that causes vibratory cavitation may be either
one of two kinds:
a. surfaces which are caused to vibrate unintentionally, as, for example a secondary effect from the
operation of a machine, or
b. Surfaces of devices, such as transducers, designed for the specific purpose of producing a
pressure wave train in the liquid.

The basic phenomenon of the cavitation in all of these types is however the same.

2.0 Effects and Control of Caviiationffransients

Unsteady flow situation in the pressurised system can cause excessive pressures, vibration,
cavitation and noise far beyond that indicated by steady flow analysis. In fact, the problems created
by hydraulic transients may be so severe as to constitute actual or perfonnance failure of a system.
Further, any cause of a hydraulic transient may create different effects, useful in one situation and
destructive in another, depending upon the configuration of the system, physical properties of the
conduits and fluids, control device of the system, the amount of free air present in the system.
Keeping this in view, lately, the study of hydraulic transients has been developed into a separate
branch of technology due to increasing use of high velocity and pressure in hydraulic machinery
and equipment

2.1 Effects and importance of cavitation

It has been mentioned in the literature that cavitation can be observed and found to be a great
problem in a great number of other liquids, however, much emphasis is given in ensuing paragraphs
to the cavitation in water.