Experimental Examination of Unsteady Friction Models for Transient Pipe Flow Simulation

Abstract

The paper presents a comparative analysis of calculations performed basing on the selected unsteady friction models and their validation based on the results of own experimental tests. The computer code developed for predicting transient pipe flows includes the models of: Zielke, Trikha, Vardy and Brown, Zarzycki, and Brunone et al. Our own experiments have been conducted at a test rig designed and constructed at the Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IMP PAN) in Gdansk in order to test transient pipe flows in a wide range of Reynolds numbers. The results following from this analysis enable the quantitative and qualitative assessment of the models under consideration.