Experimental and numerical study on transient air–water mixing flows in viscoelastic pipes

Abstract

Air–water mixing flows are commonly formed in pressurized water supply pipes due to dissolved air from the water under low pressure conditions, and air injected through system controls and associated valves and pumps. This paper investigates transient behaviours of air–water mixing flows in viscoelastic pipes through laboratory experimental tests, numerical modelling and theoretical analysis. Two numerical schemes – the discrete vaporous cavity model (DVCM) and the discrete gas cavity model (DGCM), which are firstly calibrated and validated by the experimental data gained in this study, are adopted for comparative study for their validity and accuracy for modelling transient air–water mixing flows in viscoelastic pipes. With the validated model, the results of systematic analysis show that the effect of pipe-wall viscoelasticity on transient amplitude damping decreases with the increase of air content, and the frequency shifting rate of viscoelastic effect is negligible in comparison with that of air content.