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Surge Calculations
Surge Calculations
What is a Surge
A pressure surge or a water hammer is a pressure wave caused by a sudden change in water velocity. The word water hammer originates from the hammering sound which plumbing makes inside a house when faucets are turned on or off quickly.
Critical time
Critical time = 2L/a Valve or pump closure should be greater than critical The last 20% of valve closure most critical. Very dependent on type of valve.
How to compute surge pressures h = change in pipe pressure head a h * v ag == wave speed speed of gravity v = change in velocity g
4720 a k D 1 * *(1 u 2 ) E e
K = bulk modulus elasticity of fluid ( water = 300,000 psi) E = modulus of elasticity of pipe material D = inside pipe diameter (in) e = Pipe wall thickness (in) u = Poissions ratio (PVC = .45)
The Procedure here is to convert the series pipe to an equivalent uniform pipe
L L1 L2 Ln ..... a1 a1 a2 an
Ln a n
Branching Pipelines
P3
Pressure Rating
Pressure rating can changed based on hoop stress and number of cycles
10000
100000
540000
10000000
100000000
Cycles to Failure
Example
Compute the head increase due to instantaneous stoppage of water initially flowing at 5.0 fps in an 10 inch, 80 psi, PIP pieline, a = 860 If the static head at the point of stoppage is 55.0 psi, what is the total pressure acting on the pipe at the moment of stoppage? What is the hoop stress developed at the moment of stoppage? Hs=P*D/2*t If this Hoop stress will occur twice each day, and at each occurrence there are 8 stress cycles of this approximate magnitude, and if the irrigation season is 90 days long, how many years can this pipe be expected to last before failure due to stress cycles?
Summary
Actual surge analysis is generally much more complicated than the simple example. The most practical method of solutions is to understand the available protection hardware and to install that equipment at enough locations and with reasonable settings. A fact of life which makes this approach almost necessary is that irrigation systems tend to be added to or changed with time until they may only vaguely resemble the original design.