Sensitivity Analysis for Water Hammer Problem in Pipelines

Water hammer is a transient flow in pipes that was created by sudden changes of velocity in pipe lines. This phenomenon can cause strong positive and negative pressures in water conveyance pipes and usually it poses pipeline to danger. Overall, water hammer creates by rapidly closing valves, shutting off or suddenly restarting pumps. It has destructive hydrodynamic effects in pressurized pipelines. In this study, governing equations of water hammer is numerically simulated using MATLAB software. Then, the sensitivity analysis in negative and positive pressures by changing some variables such as pipe diameter, pipe length and also wave velocity in pipe was investigated. Numerical simulation is based on characteristic method. Sensitivity analysis help designers to have well understand of water hammer phenomenon.