Numerical and experimental investigations of water hammers in nuclear industry

Abstract

In nuclear and petroleum industries, supply pipes are often exposed to high pressure loading which can cause to the structure high strains, plasticity and even, in the worst scenario, failure. Fast Hydraulic Transient phenomena such as Water Hammers (WHs) are of this type. It generates a pressure wave that propagates in the pipe causing high stress. Such phenomena are of the order of few msecs and numerical simulation can offer a better understanding and an accurate evaluation of the dynamic complex phenomenon including fluid-structure interaction, multi-phase flow, cavitation ... For the last decades, the modeling of phase change taking into account the cavitation effects has been at the centre of many industrial applications (chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, ...) and has a direct impact on the industry as it might cause damages to the installation (pumps, propellers, control valves, ...). In this paper, numerical simulation using FSI algorithm and One-Fluid Cavitation models ("Cut-Off" and "HEM (Homogeneous Equilibrium Model) Phase-Change" introduced by Saurel et al. [1]) of WHs including cavitation effects is presented.