A valve slams shut, a pump trips — and a pressure surge races through your pipes at the speed of sound, enough to crack a main or drop the pressure all the way to cavitation.
In short — ORCANET computes water hammer online by the method of characteristics: valve closure, pump trip, cavitation and column separation. It then sizes the protection — surge vessel, surge tank, relief valve — and compares its cost.
ORCANET ships a true transient engine based on the method of characteristics (MOC): it replays those critical seconds step by step and sizes exactly the protection you need — a capability that very few platforms offer online.
Method of characteristics on a looped network: valve operations, pump start-up and trip, check valves — every wave tracked second by second.
Air vessel, surge tank, relief valve, air valve, check valve — added and compared in one click, with automatic sizing of the vessel.
Detection of vaporization and column separation (DGCM model) and Brunone unsteady friction, right where simplified calculations get it wrong.
Segment-by-segment 3D forces to size thrust blocks, anchors and supports — the mechanics your inspection office asks for.
A consulting agent interprets the results: overpressure against the Joukowsky bound, 2L/a period, margin below nominal pressure and cavitation verdict.
Compare several protection variants, sweep closure times and keep the best — before pouring a single meter of concrete.
Water hammer is a pressure wave caused by a sudden change in flow: a valve closing quickly, a pump stopping or tripping. It travels along the pipe at several hundred metres per second and can produce surges strong enough to burst a pipe, or low pressures that lead to cavitation.
The Joukowsky formula gives the order of magnitude: ΔH = a·ΔV/g, where a is the wave speed and ΔV the change in velocity. It only holds for an instantaneous manoeuvre on a single pipe. On a real network, ORCANET solves the full equations by the method of characteristics and compares the result with the Joukowsky bound.
With a device that damps the wave — surge vessel, surge tank, pressure relief valve, air valve, flywheel on the pump — or by lengthening valve closure times. ORCANET simulates each protection on your network, sizes the surge vessel volume and compares the options by cost.
When pressure drops to the vapour pressure of water, a vapour cavity forms and the water column breaks; when it closes again, it produces a surge that is often higher than the first. ORCANET models it (DGCM model), where simplified calculations underestimate it.