Gas Release and Solution as Possible Mechanism of Oscillation Damping in Water Hammer Flow

Water hammer flow is examined, putting into evidence that unsteady friction cannot be fully responsible for observed oscillation damping. The measured piezometric head oscillations of water hammer flow experimental tests carried out for very long time (about 70 periods) are presented and compared with the numerical results of a quasi-two-dimensional (2D) flow model. The hypothesis is made that the energy dissipation could be partially due to the process of gas release and solution. An equation for the balance of gas mass is taken into account, already successfully used to improve the comparison between numerical and experimental head oscillations for transient gaseous cavitation. The models are based on a particular implementation of the method of characteristics (MOC-Z). The calibration of the empirical parameters of the models is carried out with a micro-genetic algorithm (micro-GA). The better performance of the proposed model is quantified with comparison of the mean absolute errors for three experimental tests at different Reynolds numbers, ranging from 5300 to 15,400. The corresponding ratios between the mean absolute errors of the models with and without gas release range between 47.3% and 17.7%. It is also shown that different turbulence models give very similar results. The results have some relevance in water hammer research, because sometimes dissipation that is not due to unsteady friction is attributed to it. However, the hypothesized mechanism has to be deepened and validated with further studies.