WATER HAMMER APPARATUS
The apparatus is made up of a coil of copper pipe 60 m long. The inlet connects to your water supply and the discharge end has a solenoid valve.
An electronic pressure transducer near to the valve measures the pressure fluctuations in the pipe when the solenoid valve shuts.
A bypass valve discharges to waste at the inlet end of the pipe. A second adjustable valve is at the discharge from the pipe, downstream of the solenoid valve. This regulates the mean pressure in the pipe before the solenoid valve shuts.
A Bourdon pressure gauge fitted between the solenoid valve and the downstream control valve shows the pressure in the system. It also allows students to calibrate the pressure transducer.
Learning outcomes
- Water hammer
- Propagation of shock waves in water
- Velocity of sound in a water filled pipe
- Transducer calibration
H405 - Experiment