 Water Hammer is a pressure surge or wave that occurs when there is a sudden momentum

change of a fluid (the motion of a fluid is abruptly forced to stop or change direction) within
an enclosed space (Water Hammer).
 Sudden Closure of Valve
 Pump Failure
 Starting or stopping up one or more pumps whilst other pumps are in operation.
* Pressure rise:
* • Pipe rupture
* • Damaged pipe fixtures
* • Damage to pumps, foundations,
pipe internals and valves
* Pressure fall:
* • Buckling of plastic and thinwalled steel pipes
* • Disintegration of the cement lining of pipes
* • Dirty water or air being drawn into pipelines
through flanged or socket connections, gland
packing or leaks
* • Water column separation followed by high
increases in pressure when the separate liquid
columns recombine (macro-cavitation)
* During a hydraulic transient event:
* – Pressures may drop down to vapor pressure and sometimes
to full vacuum.
* – Water will flush from liquid to vapor resulting in a
temporary column separation
* – When system pressure is increased again, vapor condenses
to liquid as the two columns accelerate towards each other
* – Extreme transient pressures will form when the two column
collide.
* Column separation without having water to boil
* – Air valves can ingress HUGE volumes of air.
* – When pressure rises again, the water columns accelerate
towards each other and the air valve should expel air out of the
system (double acting)
  Occurred on 17th
August 2009
 69People died

Ref: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1207093/Accident-Russias-biggest-hydroelectric-plant-leaves-seven-workers-dead.html
 Sudden closing of the Unit 2 wicket gates.
 Heavy waterhammer in the spiral case and
penstock, causing their collapse.
 Upward force, resulted from the
waterhammer, destroying the civil
 structure over the spiral case and penstock.
 Pressure of the upstream water causing
elevation of structures and peaces.
 Heavy reverse waterhammer (draft tube)
causing elevation of the turbine cover, shaft,
etc.
 Rapid flooding of the Powerhouse.
 Units 7 and 9, without closing, in runaway
speed with the generators inside the flood
water
* A large piece entered in the turbine runner and stuck in it (could not
* pass the exit of the blades, which is of smaller dimensions).
* „ This piece turned with the runner and hit all the wicket gates,
* causing their sudden closing, at a fraction of a second.
* „ This piece could be: a log (passed by an opening in the trashrack),
* stay vane or wicket gate broke.
* Or (less probably):
* „ Rupture of the governor oil pipe in the closing side of the distributor
* servomotors (in this case, the orifice that controls the oil flow should
* be in the pipe and not in the body of the servomotors).
* „ Rupture in sequence of the wicket gates links; closing by hydraulic
* tendency
* As it is not possible to altogether avoid pressure transients when
* operating a piping system, the art lies in keeping the pressure
* transients within controllable Limits.
* Numerical surge analysis
* energy [1], arithmetic [2],
* graphical, characteristics, algebraic, implicit and linear
* analyzing [3]-[5], Euler and Lagrangian based method [6], and
* decoupled hybrid methods [7]
* Pipeline Profile
* Pipeline Length
* Moment of Inertia
* Pipe Material
* Pipe Dimensions
* Filling around the pipe
* Surge Tanks:
* -> One Way Surge Tank
* -> Two Way Surge Tank
* Suggested for Small diameter pipes with low Head
* - Suggested for huge flow rates & Higher heads
* -Extensively used for pipe lines more than 300mm Diameter
* Self actuating Air Cushion valve for vacuum breaking. Dampens slamming of
returning water column by controlled release of air for effective control surges
arising due to tripping of pumps in raw water/clear water cross country rising main
and lift irrigation schemes