Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
(OP)
Hi all,
I'm currently looking to design a rig capable of recreating water hammer I.e. The pressure pulse created when a shut off valve is closed rapidly which then propagates upstream of the valve.
I therefore require a very fast acting valve (aiming for 20ms) for a 1.5" dia pipe. What are the best options for this? I am able to accommodate any type of actuation but have so far been struggling to find a valve that can shut this quickly.
I also need the valve to be very repeatable and have consistent closure times to assess the effect of various pipe geometry changes on the pressure pulse magnitude. Being able to measure the closure time would be an added benefit (maybe through inbuilt limit switches?) but I appreciate this may not be possible.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
I'm currently looking to design a rig capable of recreating water hammer I.e. The pressure pulse created when a shut off valve is closed rapidly which then propagates upstream of the valve.
I therefore require a very fast acting valve (aiming for 20ms) for a 1.5" dia pipe. What are the best options for this? I am able to accommodate any type of actuation but have so far been struggling to find a valve that can shut this quickly.
I also need the valve to be very repeatable and have consistent closure times to assess the effect of various pipe geometry changes on the pressure pulse magnitude. Being able to measure the closure time would be an added benefit (maybe through inbuilt limit switches?) but I appreciate this may not be possible.
Any advice would be much appreciated.





RE: Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
Over-centre toggle device that snaps valve closed very rapidly? Toggle could be driven by an appropriate electic motor...
Hydraulically actuated valve similar to that which is used to actuate high-voltage circuit breaker plungers?
Cost-benefit questions also come into play...how much can you justify budgeting for this?
CR
"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." [Proverbs 27:17, NIV]
RE: Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
Our main enemy is time so an off the shelf solution would be fantastic.
RE: Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
RE: Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
Another idea: Manual operated 90 degree valve where lever is operated by separate, large, weight loaded free-swinging pendulum released from an exact given horizontal position each time. (Not sure this will give closing time sought)
RE: Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
RE: Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
RE: Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
Thanks very much for your responses. Definitely some things to look at.
- With a check valve, would closure time not be dependent on flow rate? I require the valve to be as a repeatable between tests as possible as we will be testing a variety of flow rates.
- I have been wondering about mecahnical solutions such as the pendulum idea but again something we could buy off the shelf would be preferable.
- As for changing other parameters, this will form part of the testing but I require a closure rate similar to that of the system I'm trying to simulate, 20ms is aspirational so a valve closure time below 100ms will probably suffice, providing it is repeatable.
RE: Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
RE: Fast acting valve to simulate water hammer
Alternatively you could use an explosive charge similar to used in car airbag or ejector seat deployments.
ôThe beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.ö
---B.B. King
http://waterhammer.hopout.com.au/