Investigation of a new shock damper system efficiency in reducing water hammer excess pressure due to the sudden closure of a control valve

ABSTRACTUsing a combination of both experimental and numerical analysis methods, we investigated the efficiency of a new shock damper system in controlling water hammer excess pressure in a pipe network due to the sudden closing of a control valve. The new shock damper has a single degree of freedom for positive or negative waves and includes a tank, connecting pipe, mass, spring, and damper. A laboratory setup, including a pump at a constant speed at the beginning, a control valve at the end, and a shock damper in the middle of the pipe are employed. We solved the governing equations of the shock damper using the method of characteristics. Experiments are performed in two modes: for the control tests, the cut-off valve is closed leaving the shock damper disconnected from the system, and the shock damper’s valve is left open connecting it to the system. For a range of flow rates, including 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 L/s, with five replications of each test, the control valve is closed suddenly in 100 ms, the gener...