Article

Pressure Transient Model of Water-Hydraulic

Pipelines with Cavitation
Dan Jiang *, Cong Ren, Tianyang Zhao and Wenzhi Cao
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China,
Chengdu 611731, China; [email protected] (C.R.); [email protected] (T.Z.);
[email protected] (W.C.)
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Received: 15 February 2018; Accepted: 1 March 2018; Published: 7 March 2018

Abstract: Transient pressure investigation of water-hydraulic pipelines is a challenge in the fluid

transmission field, since the flow continuity equation and momentum equation are partial differential,
and the vaporous cavitation has high dynamics; the frictional force caused by fluid viscosity is
especially uncertain. In this study, due to the different transient pressure dynamics in upstream
and downstream pipelines, the finite difference method (FDM) is adopted to handle pressure
transients with and without cavitation, as well as steady friction and frequency-dependent unsteady
friction. Different from the traditional method of characteristics (MOC), the FDM is advantageous
in terms of the simple and convenient computation. Furthermore, the mechanism of cavitation
growth and collapse are captured both upstream and downstream of the water-hydraulic pipeline,
i.e., the cavitation start time, the end time, the duration, the maximum volume, and the corresponding
time points. By referring to the experimental results of two previous works, the comparative
simulation results of two computation methods are verified in experimental water-hydraulic pipelines,
which indicates that the finite difference method shows better data consistency than the MOC.

Keywords: water-hydraulic pipelines; pressure transients; cavitation; finite difference method;

method of characteristics

1. Introduction
Transient pressure pulsations generated by the rapid closure of a valve would easily cause
hydraulic pipeline systems to burst because the pressure pulsations exceed the safe operating range of
such pipelines. Violent pressure pulsations result in cavitation growth and collapse in these systems.
To study the mechanism of cavitation during pressure transient pulsations, it is necessary to investigate
the cavitation appearance, its volume evaluation, and the effect on the pipeline and hydraulic systems.
Pressure transients with cavitation in pipelines have been investigated by many researchers.
Kojima et al. [1] presented the gas-nonbubbly flow model to predict pressure increments, which involved
cavitation on the downstream side of the pipeline as a valve was instantaneously closed. They used
a water–glycol mixture and an oil/water emulsion fluid including mineral oil as working fluids and
compared the computed pressure pulsations with experimental results. Chaudhry et al. [2,3] then
proposed a MacCormack scheme and a Gabutti scheme for pressure transient analysis, which was verified
both in computed simulation and experimental studies. Although modeling accuracy was achieved,
discrepancies in the pressure magnitudes between simulations and experiments were found. Transient
pressure pulsations often lead to unexpected chatter, overshooting, and a zero bias of tracking error in
the electrohydraulic control system [4–7]. Shu et al. [8–10] developed a vaporous cavitation model that
used a two-phase homogeneous equilibrium to simulate pipeline pressure transients with upstream,
midstream, and downstream cavitation. Bergant et al. [11,12] discussed three cavitation models:
the discrete vapor cavity model (DVCM), the discrete gas cavity model (DGCM), and the generalized

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388; doi:10.3390/app8030388 www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 2 of 14

interface vaporous cavitation model (GIVCM). The comparative results of the three cavitation models
indicated that the GIVCM was able to directly obtain the regions of vaporous cavitation occurrence.
Jiang et al. [13–16], via genetic algorithms, developed the parametric identification of the gas bubble
model and the frequency-dependent friction model. Parametric identification and noise suppression
are also addressed in mechanical ventilation [17–20]. Sadafi et al. [21] recently studied water hammers
with cavitation in a simple reservoir-pipeline-valve system and a pumping station. Karadžić et al. [22]
verified the robustness of the DGCM via analysis of the experimental results. Iglesias-Rey et al. [23]
performed a detailed study of the actual behavior of different valves (both air intake and exhaust) and
described the mathematical characterization of different commercial valves. Fuertes-Miquel et al. [24]
presented a numerical modeling of pipelines with air pockets and air valves to study the behavior of
the air inside pipes as the air was expelled through air valves. Majd et al. [25] investigated the unsteady
flow of a non-Newtonian fluid due to the instantaneous valve closure in a pipeline. Comparison
revealed a remarkable deviation in pressure history and velocity profile with respect to the water
hammer in Newtonian fluids. Zhou et al. [26] adopted a second-order finite volume method for
cavitation in the water column separation of pipelines to capture vapor cavities and predict their
growth and collapse. Wang et al. [27] adopted a two-dimensional CFD model to characterize liquid
column separation. The simulation results revealed the formation of an intermediate cavity and both
the location and shape of the region undergoing distributed vaporous cavitation. Himr [28] also
studied water hammers with column separation as a one-dimensional flow. The volume of the cavity
was determined by Gibson’s method, and the air bubbles were considered to affect the speed of sound.
Thanks to the research development of transient pressure in the fluid transmission field, the main
contributions of this paper are as follows:
(i) Different from [10], a pressure transient model of water-hydraulic pipelines is constructed to
reveal both the transient pressure magnitude and the dynamic characteristics of cavitation volume.
To the authors’ best knowledge, there have been few attempts to predict cavitation volume changes and
illustrate its influence on pressure transients in hydraulic pipelines, as described in [14,15]. Although
the simplified cavitation model is based on a flow continuity principle [29], the frictional force in
pipelines involving the steady friction force and the frequency-dependent unsteady friction should be
a primary consideration in pressure transient analysis.
(ii) Different from the MOC, the FDM is adopted to estimate the magnitudes of the pressure peaks
and the changes in cavitation volume to adapt the transient pressure both with and without cavitation.
Simultaneously, the respective boundary conditions of both the upstream and downstream sides of the
valve are also considered. A comparison with the MOC is made; results are verified by the percentage
of the integral of the absolute difference (IAD) between simulation and experimental reference results.

2. Mathematical Models

2.1. Basic Equations without Cavitation

The simple water-hydraulic pipe is shown in Figure 1. To illustrate the propagation and reflection
of the pressure transients, the sequence of events, which is caused by a valve closure in the middle
of the pipe connected with the downstream and upstream tanks, will be discussed. Without a loss of
generality, the pipe diameter is assumed to be constant, and the released gas is negligible.
The general model of pressure transients in the pipeline involves the continuity equation and the
momentum equation, which are mentioned in Wylie et al. [29]. The continuity equation is derived
from the mass conservation law as follows:

1 ∂p ρ ∂q
+ 2 = 0, (1)
c20 ∂t πr0 ∂x
where p is the pressure in pipeline, q is the flow rate, ρ is the density of fluid, c0 is the acoustic velocity
in the fluid, r0 is the radius of the pipeline, x is the spatial variable, and t is the time variable.
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 3 of 14

Meanwhile, the equation of momentum is constructed by Newton’s law of motion as follows:

ρ ∂q ∂p
+ + F (q) = 0. (2)
πr02 ∂t ∂x
In Equation (1), c0 can be given by
q
c0 = Be f f /ρ, (3)

where Be f f is the effective bulk modulus.

Upstream
tank

Downstream
Valve tank
v0

Figure 1. Tank-pipeline-valve system.

2.2. Continuity Equation under Vaporous Cavitation Condition

The cavitation normally arises when the pressure transients in pipelines are closed to the vapor
pressure. If the pressure in the pipeline drops to or below the vapor pressure, vapor cavitation will
form. Furthermore, if the pressure stays at the level of the vapor pressure and the cavitation size has
approached a critical diameter, the cavitation will continue to grow rapidly. However, the cavitation
will be unstable and collapse until the pressure is greater than the vapor pressure.
Pettersson et al. [30] and Harris et al. [31] presented a relatively simple cavitation model that
illustrates the dynamic characteristics of piston pumps and can capture the key aspects of cavitation.
Since the pressure in the pipeline element is assumed to be the vapor pressure under a vaporous
cavitation condition, according to the flow continuity principle, the dynamics of the cavitation volume
Vcav is given by
dVcav
= qout − qin , (4)
dt
where qout and qin are the outflow rate and inflow rate of an element in the pipe, respectively.

2.3. Frictional Items

Due to the fluid viscosity, the frictional force F (q) in Equation (2) can be described as the sum of
the steady friction item and the frequency-dependent unsteady friction item. Zielke [32] considered the
frequency-dependent friction item as some weighting functions described in the frequency domain via
Laplace transform. Subsequently, Trikha [33] proposed three exponent function items to estimate the
frequency-dependent friction. Then, Taylor et al. [34] optimized the coefficients of the Trikha model
and proposed an approximate model with four exponent function items as follows:

1 4
2 i∑
F (q) = F0 + Yi , (5)
=1
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 4 of 14

where the first item F0 is the steady friction, and the second item is the frequency-dependent unsteady
friction. Based on the Darcy–Weisbach equation, F0 can be expressed as

ρ f v |v|
F0 = . (6)
4r0

The four items of frequency-dependent friction Yi can be computed by


 ∂Yi = − ni µ Yi + mi ∂F0

∂t ρr02 ∂t , i = 1, . . . , 4 (7)

 Y (0) = 0
i

where the constants ni and mi are listed in Table 1.

Table 1. ni and mi .

i 1 2 3 4
ni 3.9479 × 101 2.9829 × 102 2.2279 × 103 8.8782 × 104
mi 2.0141 5.3946 1.6259 × 101 3.2048 × 102

3. Simulation Methods
Two predictive methods, i.e., MOC and FDM, are presented. In order to solve the two partial
differential equations in terms of pressure and flow rate, the pipeline is divided into n elements of
equal length ∆x = L/n, where L is the pipeline length. It should be noted that different test values
of the pipeline length L can be selected in simulation. The FDM is implemented to describe pressure
transients on the downstream and upstream sides of the valve, respectively.

3.1. Method of Characteristics

The continuity equation (Equation (1)) should be solved together with the momentum equation
(Equation (2)) since they are partial differential forms about the two unknown parameters p and q.
However, via the MOC, they can be transformed into ordinary differential equations (Equations (8)
and (9)) along the characteristic lines C + and C − .

ρc0 dq dp


 + + c0 F ( q ) = 0
πr02 dt dt

C+ : (8)
 dx = c0


dt
ρc0 dq dp



2 dt
− + c0 F ( q ) = 0
dt

πr
C− : 0 . (9)
 dx = −c0


dt
As shown in Figure 2, the pressure and flow rate values at points A (p A and q A ) and B (p B and q B )
are known. Integrating Equations (8) and (9) along the characteristic lines C + and C − , the following
Equation (10) is obtained to further derive the pressure and flow rate at point P (p P and q P ).
 ρ 1 ρ 1 ∆x
 qP + pP = qA + pA − F (q A )
πr02 c0 2 c0 c0

 πr0
. (10)
ρ 1 ρ 1 ∆x
qP − pP = q − p − F ( q )


B B B
πr02 πr02

c0 c0 c0
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 5 of 14

t
t0+2∆t

P
t0+∆t
C C
∆t
t0 A B

∆x
0
1 i i+1 N+1 x
i-1
Figure 2. Method of characteristics.

Then, from Equation (10), the values of p P and q P can be obtained by

c0

 p P = C L − CR

 2
πr 2 , (11)
 qP = 0
 C L + CR
2ρ


where

∆x

ρ 1
 CL = q A +
 p − F (q A )
c0 A

A c0
. (12)
ρ 1 ∆x
 CR = q B − pB − F (q B )


A c0 c0
Details of the MOC are given by Wylie et al. [29] and Chaudhry et al. [3]. Incorporated with
Equation (4), this method determines the time at which cavitation first arises in respective elements
and the volume of cavitation. Furthermore, the method also determines whether cavitation has already
collapsed at each time step ∆t = ∆x/c0 and the time at which cavitation occurs again.

3.2. Finite Difference Method

The flow rate and pressure inside the pipeline are constructed as n-dimensional vectors as follows:
q = (q1 , q2 , . . . , qn )T , and p = ( p1 , p2 , . . . , pn )T . Here, the first element is close to the valve and the last
element approaches the upstream or downstream tank. This simulation scheme has been implemented
by the Matlab/Simulink platform and the partial derivative terms in time domain ∂/∂t can be readily
calculated by the integral block of Simulink.

3.2.1. The Downstream Side of the Valve

Pressure transients on the downstream side of the valve were investigated. The sketch is illustrated
in Figure 3. Here, the initial velocity v0 is constant and the valve is suddenly shut off. For the boundary
condition, the flow rate in the element close to the valve is set to zero, and the pressure in the element
close to downstream tank is constant. If the boundary condition qvalve = 0 is assumed to be the first
element together with the other n − 1 elements, the Selector Block is used to re-order specified elements
of the vector. A new flow rate vector q0 for the case of the flow rate is formed such that

q0 = (qvalve , q1 , . . . , qn−1 )T . (13)

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 6 of 14

Upstream
tank

Valve
Downstream
p1 p2 p3 pn
tank

q1 q2 q3 qn
Figure 3. On the downstream side of a valve.

Based on the first-order upwind difference scheme, the derivative item ∂q/∂x can be expressed
as follows:
∂q q − q0
= . (14)
∂x ∆x
For the pressure vector, the Selector Block is used to construct a new pressure vector p0 as follows:

p0 = ( p2 , . . . , pn , presd )T , (15)

where presd is the boundary condition, which is equal to the pressure in the downstream tank.
∂p/∂x is also given by
∂p p0 − p
= . (16)
∂x ∆x

3.2.2. The Upstream Side of the Valve

Similar to the downstream side of the valve, an upstream pipeline model can be constructed.
The variables of flow rate and pressure in n elements along the pipeline are considered as the vectors
as shown in Figure 4. The first element is close to the valve, and the initial velocity is positive constant.
For the case of the flow rate, a new flow rate vector q0 is formed with the corresponding boundary
condition, such that
q0 = (qvalve , q1 , . . . , qn−1 )T . (17)

Upstream
tank

valve
Downstream
pn p3 p2 p1 tank

qn q3 q2 q1
Figure 4. On the upstream side of a valve.

Different from the condition of the downstream side of the valve, according to the first-order
upwind difference scheme, ∂q/∂x can be expressed as follows:
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 7 of 14

∂q q0 − q
= . (18)
∂x ∆x
For the pressure vector, the Selector Block is used to create a new pressure vector p0 :

p0 = ( p2 , . . . , pn , presu )T , (19)

where presu is the boundary condition of the pressure in the upstream tank. Thus, the ∂p/∂x can be
described as follows:
∂p p − p0
= . (20)
∂x ∆x

4. Simulation Results

4.1. Case 1: Pressure Transients without Cavitation on the Downstream Side of Valve
The experimental results of the transient pressure pulsations close to the valve in the horizontal
downstream pipeline are given by Vitkovsky et al. [35] and the related parameters of the tested pipeline
are listed in Table 2. Here, the element number n is selected as 30 in the simulation. The sensitivity of
this element number n has been discussed in [13]. The corresponding experimental results of transient
pressure pulsations close to the valve are shown as the solid line in Figure 5.

Table 2. Parameters of pressure transients without cavitation on the downstream side of the valve.

Parameter Value

Upstream tank pressure presu (bar) 4.25

Downstream tank pressure presd (bar) 4.22
Pipe radius r0 (mm) 11.05
Pipe length L (m) 37.2
Water density ρ (kg/m3 ) 1000
Initial velocity v0 (m/s) 0.3
Acoustic velocity in the fluid c0 (m/s) 1319

5 5
x 10 x 10
10
12 Experimental results from Vtkovsky Experimental results from Vtkovsky
Simulation results using MOC Simulation results using FDM
10 8

8 6
p/Pa

p/Pa

6
4
4
2
2

0 0

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

t/s t/s
(a) Pressure transients results of the MOC (b) Pressure transients results of the FDM

Figure 5. Simulation and experimental pressure transients without cavitation on the downstream side
of the valve.

Figure 5 denotes that, in the downstream pipeline, the pressure at the vicinity of the valve is
reduced quickly when the valve is closed. At the same time, the negative pressure wave propagates to
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 8 of 14

the downstream tank. Then, the positive pressure wave is reflected from the downstream tank and
travels back to the valve, which leads to the first positive pressure peak. This process may be repeated
several times before the fluid energy is dissipated due to the frictional force of the pipeline.
As shown in the experimental results, from 0 to 1 s, the attenuated peaks of the pressure pulsations
are decreased very slowly. Because of the lower frictional force, the magnitudes of the pressure peaks
decay slower in water, which is different from the corresponding pressure transient results with the
working fluid as hydraulic oil (Jiang et al. [13]). Thus, if the pressure pulsations are always greater
than the saturated vapor pressure, no cavitation forms.
For comparison, the simulation results of MOC are illustrated as the dash-dotted line in Figure 5a.
The simulation results of the FDM platform are presented as the dashed line in Figure 5b. It can be seen
that, from 0.4 to 1 s, the phase difference between the MOC simulation and the experimental results is
more obvious. However, the simulation results of the FDM are still consistent with the experimental
pressure results.
To further compare the two predictive methods, the error between the simulation and the
experimental results was evaluated by the percentage of the integral of absolute difference (IAD)
as follows (Rabie et al. [36]):

RT  
 p Lth − p L exp  dt
0
I AD = × 100%. (21)
p Lss T

The IAD results of the two predictive methods in the three cases are listed in Table 3. In Case 1,
the final steady-state pressure at the valve is equal to the downstream tank pressure (4.22 bar), and the
IAD of the FDM is about 0.05%. Thus, the simulation of the FDM is consistent with the experimental
result, which is superior to the MOC (IAD = 0.91%).

Table 3. The integral of absolute difference (IAD) of the method of characteristics (MOC) and the finite
difference method (FDM).

Case p Lss (bar) IAD of MOC IAD of FDM

1 4.22 0.91% 0.05%
2 0.98065 2.75% 2.47%
3 4.90325 12.39% 10.84%

4.2. Case 2: Pressure Transients with Cavitation on the Downstream Side of Valve
The case of transient pressure pulsations with cavitation in the horizontal downstream pipeline
was also investigated. Some experimental parameters from Sanada et al. [37] are listed in Table 4.
The corresponding experimental results are shown as the solid line in Figure 6. As the valve is quickly
closed, the pressure reduces and stays at vapor pressure for about 3 s. The pressure then drops again
and stays at vapor pressure for about 1.5 s. For the third time, the pressure falls and stays at vapor
pressure for about 1 s.
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 9 of 14

Table 4. Parameters of pressure transients with cavitation on the downstream side of the valve.

Parameter Value

Upstream pressure presu (bar) 6.55164

Downstream pressure presd (bar) 0.98065
Pipe radius r0 (mm) 7.6
Pipe length L (m) 200
Water density ρ (kg/m3 ) 1000
Initial velocity v0 (m/s) 1.5
Viscosity of the fluid c0 (cP) 1

The results obtained from the MOC and the FDM are also shown in Figure 6. It is clear that
obvious differences exist between the MOC simulation and the experimental results, especially in terms
of the phase differences of the subsequent peaks. However, the results of the FDM via Matlab/Simulink
Platform are consistent with the experimental results.
As listed in Table 3, for Case 2, the final steady-state pressure at the valve is 0.98065 bar, which is
equal to the downstream tank pressure. Different from Case 1, the two predictive methods have similar
effects (the IADs of the two predictive methods are 2.75% and 2.47%).

5 5
x 10 x 10
10 10
Experimental results from Sanada Experimental results from Sanada
Simulation results using MOC Simulation results using FDM
8 8

6 6
p/Pa

p/Pa

4 4

2 2

0 0

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
t/s t/s
(a) Pressure transients results of the MOC (b) Pressure transients results of the FDM

Figure 6. Simulation results and experimental data of pressure transients with cavitation on the
downstream side of the valve.

The corresponding cavitation volumes in the element close to the valve predicted by the FDM
and the MOC are shown in Figure 7. The trends of vaporous cavitation volume under three cases are
listed in Table 5, which includes the cavitation start time, the end time, the duration, the maximum
volume, and the corresponding time points.
Similar to the MOC, the FDM is also able to track the trends of cavitation volume. The results
indicate that the computed pressure peak declines to the saturated vapor pressure after the valve
is rapidly closed and after cavitation forms. However, this new cavitation collapses at 3.87 s
(FDM) and 3.77 s (MOC). The maximum volumes of cavitation first are 1.372 × 10−4 m3 (FDM)
and 1.401 × 10−4 m3 (MOC). When the pressure declines again, cavitation is generated again, but it
is much smaller (1.892 × 10−5 m3 from the FDM and 4.155 × 10−5 m3 from the MOC) than the first
instance. Once again, cavitation collapses at the arrival of the third pressure peak. The durations of the
third cavitation is 1.08 s (FDM) and 0.99 s (MOC). Thus, over this short period (12 s), the cavitation
demonstrates generation and collapse three times.
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 10 of 14

Table 5. Trends of cavitation volume.

MOC FDM MOC FDM MOC FDM

Times Method
(case 1) (case 1) (case 2) (case 2) (case 3) (case 3)
start time (s) 0.40 0.38 0.60 0.65
end time (s) 3.77 3.87 1.21 1.24
1st time duration (s) – – 3.37 3.49 0.61 0.59
maximum volume time (s) 2.32 2.11 1.08 1.21
maximum volume (m3 ) 1.401 × 10−4 1.372 × 10−4 1.305 × 10−5 3.955 × 10−6
start time (s) 4.34 4.37 2.05 1.98
end time (s) 6.14 6.03 2.17 2.23
2nd time duration (s) – – 1.80 1.66 0.12 0.25
maximum volume time (s) 5.12 5.73 2.15 2.21
maximum volume (m3 ) 4.155 × 10−5 1.892 × 10−5 1.281 × 10−6 6.785 × 10−7
start time (s) 6.72 6.54
end time (s) 7.71 7.62
3rd time duration (s) – – 0.99 1.08 – –
maximum volume time (s) 7.46 6.76
maximum volume (m3 ) 1.009 × 10−5 1.535 × 10−6

−4
x 10
1.5 Simulation results using MOC
Simulation results using FDM

1
Vcav/m3

0.5

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
t/s

Figure 7. Simulation results of the cavitation volume in the first element on the downstream side of the
valve using the MOC and the FDM.

4.3. Case 3: Pressure Transients with Cavitation on the Upstream Side of the Valve
Sanada et al. [37] also provided parameters of tested pipelines in the case of transient pressure
pulsations in a horizontal upstream pipeline, as listed in Table 6. Compared with Case 2 listed in
Table 4, the parameters of the test pipeline are the same, except for the values of the upstream pressure
and the initial velocity.

Table 6. Parameters of pressure transients with cavitation on the upstream side of the valve.

Parameter Value

Upstream pressure presu (bar) 4.90325

Downstream pressure presd (bar) 0.98065
Pipe radius r0 (mm) 7.6
Pipe length L (m) 200
Water density ρ (kg/m3 ) 1000
Initial velocity v0 (m/s) 1.45
Viscosity of fluid c0 (cP) 1
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 11 of 14

Figure 8 demonstrates the sequence of pressures with cavitation caused by instant valve closure.
Compared with the pressure pulsations in the downstream pipeline, after a sudden valve closure,
the fluid is brought to rest, firstly causing a high pressure peak at the upstream side of the valve.
Experimental results from Sanada (the solid line in Figure 8) show that the initial pressure at the
valve is about 16 × 105 Pa when the valve is closed. It then reduces to the vapor pressure and keeps
a steady state until about 0.5 s. Upon collapse of the cavitation, another pressure wave is generated at
the valve. The subsequent pressure peak is reduced because of the friction force in the pipeline.
The figure also shows the simulation results from the MOC and the FDM. For the case of the
upstream side of the valve, the final steady-state pressure at the valve is equal to the upstream tank
pressure (4.90 bar). As listed in Table 3, the IADs of the MOC and the FDM are 12.39% and 10.84%.
It is clear that the results of the FDM has much better consistency with the experimental results than
those using the MOC.

5 5
x 10 x 10
Experimental results from Sanada Experimental results from Sanada
Simulation results using MOC Simulation results using FDM
15 15

10 10
p/Pa

p/Pa

5 5

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
t/s t/s
(a) Pressure transients results of the MOC (b) Pressure transients results of the FDM

Figure 8. Simulation results and experimental data of pressure pulsations on the upstream side of the valve.

The corresponding cavitation volumes in the element close to the valve are shown in Figure 9.
The maximum size of the vaporous cavity is 3.955 × 10−6 m3 (the duration is about 0.59 s) using the
FDM and 1.305 × 10−5 m3 (the duration is about 0.61 s) using the MOC. When the pressure reduces to
vapor pressure again, using the FDM, the second cavity has a volume of 6.785 × 10−7 m3 and a duration
of 0.25 s; however, using the MOC, the cavity has a volume of 1.281 × 10−6 m3 and a duration of 0.12 s.

−5
x 10
1.5 Simulation results using MOC
Simulation results using FDM

1
Vcav/m3

0.5

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
t/s

Figure 9. Simulation results of the cavitation volume in the first element between the MOC and the FDM.
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 12 of 14

As listed in Table 5, based on a comparison between Case 2 and Case 3, the durations of cavitation
are much longer and the maximum cavitation volumes are larger on the downstream side of the valve.
It is clear that cavitation is more likely to occur on the downstream side of the valve.

5. Conclusions
To reveal the mechanism of cavitation growth and collapse both on upstream and downstream of
the water-hydraulic pipeline, this paper proposes the finite difference method (FDM) for determining
the transient pressure to estimate pipeline pressure transients caused by sudden changes in fluid
velocity. Firstly, the dynamic model of cavitation volume was derived during pressure transients. Then,
the cavitation appearance durations and volume changes were analyzed. Furthermore, the frictional
force model with the steady and frequency-dependent unsteady items were constructed in the
proposed dynamic model. By referring to experimental results in [35,37], the simulation results
of two computation methods were verified to indicate that the proposed FDM for transient pressure
estimation has the following two advantages:
(i) The FDM is consistent with experimental results, which is improvement over the MOC in
terms of the phase differences and magnitudes of the pressure peaks.
(ii) The FDM estimates not only the magnitudes of the pressure peaks but also the changes in
cavitation volume to adapt the transient pressure both with and without cavitation. By statistical
results, the IAD values of the FDM are much more favorable than that of the MOC.
However, the aforementioned discussion assumes that no air is released during cavitation. In fact,
water usually contains some dissolved air or gas. If the pressure declines under the saturation pressure,
especially under vapor pressure with agitation, then a certain amount of air will be released as gas
bubbles. Thus, these effects of gas bubbles on pressure transients with cavitation will be investigated
in the near future.

Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their constructive
comments. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51205045,
61305092, 51775089) and the Open Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power & Mechatronic Systems
(GZKF-201515).
Author Contributions: Dan Jiang conceived and designed the structure of this paper; Tianyang Zhao and
Wenzhi Cao performed the simulation; Cong Ren reviewed the literature.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Abbreviation
IAD Integral of absolute difference
Be f f (Pa) Effective bulk modulus
c0 (m/s) Acoustic velocity in the fluid
f Coefficient of Darcy–Weisbach
F0 (N) Steady friction
F (q) (N) Friction
mi Weighting constant
ni Weighting constant
p Vector of pressures at nodes
p A , p B , p P (Pa) Pressure at points A, B, and P
presu (Pa) Pressure in the upstream tank
presd (Pa) Pressure in the downstream tank
p0 New vector of pressures at nodes
p Lexp Experimental results of pressure transients at the valve
p Lss Steady-state pressure at the valve
p Lth Simulation results of pressures transients at the valve
q Vector of flow rate at nodes
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8, 388 13 of 14

q A , q B , q P (m3 /s) Flow rate at points A, B, and P

q0 New vector of flow rate at nodes
qin (m3 /s) Inflow rate
qout (m3 /s) Outflow rate
r0 (m) Radius of the pipeline
v (m/s) Velocity in the fluid
v0 (m/s) Initial velocity in the fluid
Vcav (m3 ) Cavitation volume
Yi (N) Weighting function
ρ (kg/m3 ) Density of fluid
µ (Pa · s) Viscosity of fluid

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