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CE534 FLUID TRANSIENTS IN CLOSED CONDUITS

Course Objectives

To equip the students with the comprehensive knowledge of concepts of unsteady closed conduit flow by building on their steady flow understanding of the subject which was introduced to them in their undergraduate curriculum.

To teach them how to solve the fluid transient problems in space and time domain for the two dependent variables, pressure (or head) and velocity (or discharge), after derivation of the governing equations from control volume approach, and their algebraic forms based on the Method of Characteristics.

To show the students how great magnitudes of pressure wave peaks may occur and how fast those pressure waves may travel back and forth within the system, and how dangerous they can get. Next, they will be taught how to handle these transients with some control mechanisms, such as surge tanks, air chambers, etc.

Course Content

Fluid transient flow (water hammer) concepts. Basic differential equations for transient flow. Solution of differential equations by Method of Characteristics. Transients caused by turbopumps. Transients in hydroelectric power plants. Column separation, air release and entrapped air. Methods for controlling transients: wave speed reduction methods, air chambers, surge tanks. (R)

Course Learning Outcomes

This course will strengthen the Civil Engineering Graduate Program greatly as it will be the only course in the area of Hydromechanics that deals with the unsteady flow in closed conduits.

Unsteady flow in closed conduits is very important since it is a phenomenon that may occur in water distribution networks, penstocks of the power plants, water transmission lines between dams and treatment plants, and etc. due to either a malfunction of the system or inadequate operation conditions. Should unsteady flow occur in a system the outcome can be very costly and even deadly. Pipeline may collapse or burst erratically resulting in substantial damages, and human losses in some cases.

It is the least understood subject by the engineers in practice since most civil engineering programs do not have it in their undergraduate curriculum. This is because the subject matter is very complex and involved with advance level of mathematics knowledge. That is why it is more appropriate to teach it in graduate programs.

With the proposed outline, it is aimed to give the students the entire picture of unsteady flow in closed conduits. The topics in the course outline will enhance greatly the students’ motivation and understanding towards unsteady flow in closed conduits. They would appreciate more the consequences of potential causes triggering the unsteady flow. Thus, through the course, they would gain the knowledge of how to avoid and/orcontrol the transient events in hydraulic systems in the cheapest and most efficient ways possible.

Program Outcomes Matrix