Experimental Assessment of Water Hammer-Induced Column Separation in Oil-Hydraulic Pipe Flow

Abstract

Cavitation erosion through water hammer and column separation is a major concern in hydraulic applications such as percussive rock drilling. Cavitation aspects must be considered both in early and late design stages, which require deep knowledge and tools for prediction. In this study, an oil-hydraulic test equipment for water hammer assessment was designed using state-of-the-art simulation tools. Several tests were performed, with and without column separation, showing good repeatability on measured pressures. At higher flow rates, column separation was the dominating feature and several high-pressure peaks with subsequent time delay reduction could be observed. These patterns were affected by the oil temperature, with most substantial changes at lower temperature ranges (<32 °C). Standard transmission line simulations managed to predict the water hammer, but as expected not the column separation, which is the theme of future work using this setup.