Dynamics of the solutions of the water hammer equations

摘要

A water hammer is a pressure wave that occurs, accidentally or intentionally, in a filled liquid pipeline when a tap is suddenly closed, or a pump starts or stops, or when a valve closes or opens. A water hammer wave propagates through pipes reflecting on features and boundaries. This phenomenon is governed by a pair of coupled quasi-linear partial differential equations of first order, that are usually solved using the method of characteristics.