334 CLEANING

ON
KEY O F FILTER SANDS.

sands are graded hydraulically to the top of the bed and form patches
which, under the influence of the vertical upward current of wash water,
are still more or less floating. Their position and size vary considersbly
between one wash and another but, if left, they must ultimately form
denser masses and be carried down into the bed. It is hoped that when
the correct ’rate of wash water rise can be applied these formations will
disappear.
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the accepted method of
cleaning a t e r sands in modern a t e r s leaves something to be desired and
also that the presentline of approach to this long-standingproblem deals
with only one factor in the problem of moving flocculated silt which rests
on the surface during filtrationinto areas where the outflow of the backwash
water can lift i t b u t not the filtering sand-out of the filter.

Paper No. 5649.

U Water-Hammer Effects in Power Conduits : Accidents due to

Water Hammer.” t
By CHARLES JAEGER,Dr. &S Sc. Tech. (Zurich).

(Ordered by the Council to be published in abstract form.)?

INthe Symposium on Water Hammer held at the American Waterworks
Association, Chicago, under the joint auspices of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers, on
30 June, 1933, Mr. A. W. K. Billings, M.I.C.E., in collaboration with his
assistants, contributed a Paper entitled “ High-Head Penstock Design,” 1
in which he drewparticular attention toa number of serious accidents due
to water-hammer in pressure conduits. Details of other accidents have
been published by A. Bouchayer, A. Hruschka, C. J. Davis, and J. P. den
Hartog.
In the present Paper, detailsof twenty recent cases of pipe failure are
discussed. Four of them have been published by Joehr ; three are taken
from Papers by 0. Schnyder, one has been investigated by E. Scimemi,
one by G . Sacerdote, and one by Y. Rocard. Ten others are taken from
the Author’s own experience. Of those twenty cases only one had previ-
ously been published in English, in the discussion of a Paper written by

t The full MS. and illustrations may be seen in the Institution

Library.SEc. I.C.E.
1 J. Amer. Waterw. A sen, vol. 26 (1933), p. 879.

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 JAEGER ON WATEB-HAMMEREFFECTS IN POWERCONDUITS : 335
ACCIDENTS DUE TO WATER
HAMMER.

Professor R. W. Angus.1 An endeavour has been made to investigate all

the details of these accidents, to check them by calculations, and to
classify them. Four of the cases have been found to be failures in normal
service due to improperdesign and four to failures of mechanism, the
remaining twelve being due to vibrations, resonance, or auto-oscillation.

A. FAILURES
DUE TO WATERHAMMER
IN NORMAL
SERVICE.
TheAuthorhad the opportunity to examine an oldpower-station,
which was later connected to a very powerful grid, wherein rupture of the
penstock air inlet valve was due to the interference of surge-tank oscilla-
tions and water-hammer resultingin dangerous wavesof negative pressure.
The surge tank was later enlarged and the running of the power-station
was altered, in order to improve the working conditions and avoid further
accidents.
On the basis of the experiments made, several other water-power plants
with analogous working conditions werealtered in time to avoid failure.
The Author mentions two cases where dangerous water-hammer and
vibrations developed inthe penstock throughairenteringthe pipe,
because of defective design of the surge tank.
He also discusses a case of instability of pump characteristics, described
by 0. Schnyder. in 1943.2

B. ACCIDENTS
CAUSED BY FAILUREOF MECHANISM, OR BY UNFAVOURABLE
COINCIDENCESEXCEPT CASES OF RESONANCE.
Most of the failures quoted by Billings belong to this category.
The Author mentions the rupture of a penstock due to a rock falling
on the neighbouring pipe and subsequent reflection of pressure-waves.
(An analogous case has been described by Bouchayer).
In another case, a valve opened suddenly ; the ensuing negative waves
and breaking of the water-column ruptured the penstock. In a third case,
an air valve of an obsolete type slammed shut, rupturing a penstock a t
its upper end.
Joehr 3 mentions an interesting case of a valve slamming shut, with the
result that one of the expansion joints on the penstock was dislocated.
l R. W. Angus, “Water Hammer in Pipes, including those suppliedby Centrifugal
Pumps. Gra.phica1treatment.” Proc. I. Mech. E., vol. 136 (1937) and Trans. Amer.
Soc. Civ. Engrs, vol. 104 (1939). See also C. Jaeger, Schiiden durch Wmserst6sse und
Pulsutionen i n Druckleitungen.” Wusserkraft und Wasserwirtschaft, vol. 38, March,
1943 ; “ Theory of Resonance in Pressure Conduits.” Trans. Amer. Soc. Mech. Engrs,
Feb. 1939 ; “ Thdwie gdndrule du coup de bilier.” Paris, 1933.
“ Druckslbse in Druckleilungen.” Mitt. von Roll., vol. 2 (1943), Noj. 3-4 (Feb.
1943).
8 Joehr, “Pulsations des conduitesforcdea.” Bull. Sehweiz. Elektr. Ver., vol.33
(1942), No. 18 (9 September, 1912).
23
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 336 JAEGER ON W A ~ R - H A M M E R EFFECTS m POWER CONDUITS

C. VIBRATION, RESONANCE,
AND AUTO-OSCILLATION.

In recent years hydraulic engineers have been considerably interested

in resonance in pressureconduits andthe dangers arising therefrom.
Vibrations can arise from various sources. For example, the mere turbu-
lence of flow at high volocities ; and cavitation in a turbine runner (Joehr)l
or below a butterfly valve.
With regard to resonance proper, Sacerdote has described a case in
which water-hammer was produced when the turbine-blades passed the
guide-vanes at a certain speed. Den Hartog has made a theoretical study
of this phenomenon.2
Joehr has also mentioneda case of resonance ina pipe-linebeing
developedwhen aheavy air-compressor, electrically connected to the
turbine, was started nearby, and Schnyder hasdescribed a case of rupture
of a pipe and valves due to resonance with the period of a three-throw
pump.3
The most frequent cause of resonance in pressure pipes is hunting of
the turbine governor. Many examples of such bad governingcould be
cited. The first published description was given in 1911 by Bouchayer,
and the Author has published a pressure diagram concerned with this
cause.
All of the above-mentioned case6 due to resonance have been or could
be calculated by means of the theory of resonance in pipes, as developed
by Camichel, Favre, and the Author. But one case related by Scimemi,4
andpartlytestedin his laboratory, stillremainswithout any proper
explanation. This case is described in the Paper.
A very important type of resonancewasdiscovered and first fully
calculated by Rocard 5 in connexion with the Lac Blanc-LacNoir accident.
On the evening of 4 January, 1934, shortly after one of the pumps hadbeen
put into operation and brought up to normal speed, a burst occurred on
the 15-foot-diameter distribution pipe, just above the power-house. The
superficial area of the hole measuredapproximately 185 square feet,
so that large volumes of water, at a head of 300 feet, rushed on to the
southern part of the power-house, breaking through the roof and flooding
the power-house, parts of which are situated deep below the level of Lac
Noir. The force of the rupture was such that a 12-ton fragment of the
concrete surrounding the pipe was hurled a distance of 150 feet.
Accordmg to Rocard’s theory, the elastic mechanical parts and the
Ref. 3, p. 335, ante.
T. P. den Hartog, ‘‘ Mechanical Vibrations in Penstocks of Hydraulic Turbine
Iustallations.” Trans. Amer. Soc. Mech. Engrs. Hydraulics, vol. 61, 1929, No. 32
(Sept.-Dec., 1929).
3 Ref. 2, p. 335, ante,
4 E. Scimemi, ‘‘ Pulsaziuni nelle condotte idrauliche.” Energia Elettrica, July, 1 N O .
6 Y . Rocard, “ L e a Phemrnthes d’auto-oscdlatiow clans lea iaslallatiolos hydrau-
liques,” Paris, 1937.

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 ACCIDENTS DUE TO WATER
HAMMER. 337
liquid masses of a hydraulic plant together constitutean oscillating entity
which can be set in vibration by any fortuitous impulse. Rocard’s calcu-
lations show that the movable guide vanes of the huge centrifugal pumps
of Lac Noir form, with the water-column, such a system, the vibration of
which may explain the rupture of the pipe.
Another typical instance of auto-oscillation is that of an elastically
vibrating rotary valve cited by Schnyder.1
That resonance in pipes, especially in the form of auto-oscillation, can
present grave dangers, is shown both by Billings’s survey and by thetwo
examples mentioned above. Less well known is the fact that resonance
also presents a serious threat to the pressure gallery above a surge tank,

Fig. 1.

Resonance of harmonic

STAXDINQ
WAVE OF PEESSWE IN THE PBESSUREGALLERY.

and may even damage it. It can be calculated 2 that the resonance of
the fundamentals of the systems does not presentany danger to thetunnel.
Things are different if the resonance of a harmonic is produced. The
theory of harmonics shows that, even if the surge tank is well-designed,
the harmonics may be transmitted to the upstream side.
Investigation of such a case by the Author showed that within a long
period of operation, extending over many years, fissures had developed
three times in a certain tunnel, each time a t the same place. Horizontal,
parallel &sures, which measured more than 60 feet in length, indicated
the presence of severe water-hammer.
Resonance due to auto-oscillation was suspected, and a further exami-
nation revealed more fissures a t equal distances from one another (Pig. I ) .
A study of the system showed that resonance of the eleventh harmonic had
occurred inside the tunnel. According to Rocards theory of auto-oscilla-
tion, such resonance must have been due to an oscillating member in the

1 0 . Sohnyder, Bull. Tech. Buisse Rm.,May, 1936.

C , Jaeger, ‘‘ Note sur les phhnn&nespdriodiques d a m les conduites j o r c h a
caractei-istipues multiples.” Houille Blanche, vol. 36 (1936). C. R. A&. Sei., Paris,
vol. 202 (1936), pp. 627; 913; 1482.

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 338 JAEGER ON WATER-HAMMER EFFECTS IN POWER CONDUITS :
ACCIDENTS DUE TO WATERHAMMER.

system, and eventually it was traced to an old air-valve fitted with an oil
dashpot.
In another case of which the Authorhas beeninformed, trouble
occurred on one set in a South American power-station, when the inlet
valves of all theother sets, running independently, suddenly closed
simultaneously. It can beassumed that someresonanceoccurred in a
manner similar to thatdescribed above.
The examples cited above are by no means isolated, and progress in
this field of engineering science can best be served by a frank exchange
of experience.

The Paper is accompanied by twenty-two sheets of diagrams, from one

of which Figure 1 has been prepared.

Paper No. 5650.

Steady Flow in Open Channels : The Problem of Boussinesq.”

By CHARLESJAEGER,
Dr. 6s Sc.Tech. (Zurich).

(Ordered by the Council to be published in abstract form.)?

THE theoryof gradually varying flow has, in its essentials, been developed
by Bernoulli, Birlanger,Bresse, de Saint Venant, and Boussinesq.Ber-
noulli introduced the notion of energy ; BBlanger wasthe fist to deal with
the notion of momentum.Two parallel theories of the flow in open
channels, one based on the energy and the other on the momentum, can
thus be developed.
I n 1839 Birlanger made the observation that, for a given head R, the
actual discharge Q overabroad-crestedweir is amaximum. In his
fundamental study on flow in open channels, Boussinesq 1 expressed the
opinion that this principle of maximum discharge is only a particular case
of amoregeneral principle. Later, P. Boss 2 showed that, in certain
circumstances and a t a constant discharge Q, the head H (or energy) of
a flow becomes a minimum. It was soon realized that the principles of
Birlanger and Boss were related to each other, but the explanations given
did not reach the root of the problem. The question involved becomes
t The full MS. and illustrationsmay be seeqin the 1nstitutionLibrary.-SEC. I.C.E.
J. V. Boussinesq, ‘‘ Essai sur la &!orie dm eauxcourantes.” Aoad. Sci. Paris,
1877.
a P. Boss, Berechnungder Wasserspiegellage beirnWechsel des Fliess-Zustandeq
Berlin, Springer, 1919.

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