Modelling 203

t is the time.
A is the cross-sectional area of the pipe.
d is the diameter of the pipe.
the fluid density.
the angle the pipe makes to the horizontal.
f is a friction factor.

18.8 Wave Speed

The wavespeed in a pipe is the speed at which pressure surges are propagated along the pipe. It
depends on a number of factors, including the material and diameter of the pipe, and the bulk
modulus of the fluid. For the Transient Module to make an automatic calculation of the
wavespeed, the user must provide a pipe schedule and define the fluid bulk modulus. If this
information is unavailable, a default wavespeed can be specified.

Details of wavespeeds for each pipe in the network are listed in the output report file, along with
the rest of the pipe data.

The wavespeed is calculated using:

where:
a is the wavespeed.
K is the fluid bulk modulus.
D is the internal pipe diameter.
E is the Young's Modulus for the pipe material.
t is the pipe wall thickness.
c1 is the pipe distensibility (restraint factor).
the fluid density.

The pipe distensibility is calculated by assuming that the pipe is anchored at both ends against
longitudinal movement:

where is the Poisson ratio for the pipe material.

If a pipe is not anchored at both ends, the pipe wavespeed should be specified by the user as a
user-defined wavespeed. The earlier formula for the wavespeed should be used, with pipe
distensibility given by:

SSL/UM/0003/08 - 2014 Sunrise Systems Limited

 204 Transient Module

for a pipe anchored at the upstream end only, and:

for a pipe having expansion joints throughout its length.

18.9 Specifications
Specifications are used to describe the behaviour of valves and pumps in the network and
boundary value pressures and flow rates. A Pressure or Flow rate specification is required at all
input and output nodes. Note that:

1. PIPENET uses the convention that flow rate is positive into, and negative out of, the
system.
2. There must be at least one pressure specification somewhere in the network.
3. Only one specification is allowed on each node.
4. No pressure or flow rate specification is allowed on an interior node.

An Information specification is used to control the operation of a pump or valve. The

specification value should lie between 0 and 1 (from 0 for a fully closed valve or shut-down
pump, to 1 for a fully open valve or full-speed pump). The information specification should be
attached to an information node having no other connected components.

User Input Parameters

Specification Type - Pressure or flow rate for I/O nodes, information for information
nodes.
Node - Node to which specification applies.
Time function - Choice of time function and associated parameters.

Modelling Equations
The user has the choice of nine basic types of specification. In each case, the program calculates
the specification value at each time.

Built-in Functions
Nine built-in functions are available. These are described below.

SSL/UM/0003/08 - 2014 Sunrise Systems Limited