Waterhammer tests in a long PVC pipeline with short steel end sections

An experiment featuring waterhammer in viscoelastic pipes is presented in which the effects of pipe-wall viscoelasticity on waterhammer pressures are investigated. A large-scale pipeline apparatus made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) at Deltares, Delft, The Netherlands, has been used to carry out waterhammer experiments. Tests have been conducted in a reservoir-pipeline-valve system consisting of a main viscoelastic pipeline and two short steel pipes placed upstream and downstream of the main pipe. Rapid closure of a manually operated valve at the downstream end generates waterhammer. Repeated measurements at several positions along the pipeline have been recorded; these are plotted in figures and appropriately interpreted.