Impulse loading is a common type of loading that should be taken care of during the

pipe stress analysis phase. This document provides a simple description for the most
common impulse loading which are water hammer and slug flow.

1. Hydraulic Impulse Loads

Of all the loading conditions that a piping system may experience in service,
hydraulic transients are among the most damaging. The most common form of damage
caused by hydraulic transient/impulse loads is the failure of pipe supports and supporting
structures. However, occasional breaches of pressure integrity are also experienced,
particularly where large-diameter thin-walled pipe is involved. One of The common types
of hydraulic transient loads is water hammer and slug flow. These types of loads are
considered impulse loads where the load magnitude ramps up from zero to the total load
value, remains constant then ramps down to zero again.

2. Water Hammer
The hammering event is often initiated by intentional actuation of certain flow control
devices (main steam stop valve closure, feed-water pump trip, etc.), but in other cases a
transient event could be introduced unintentionally as the result of some unforeseen
operating condition, component malfunction, or accident (e.g., feed-water line check
valve slam following a pipe break upstream of the check valve). While these events may
produce very complex transient fluid flow, the pipe stress analyst is interested in just the
unbalanced force along the pipe segment tending to induce piping vibration.
If the velocity of water or other liquid flowing in a pipe is suddenly reduced, a
pressure wave travels up and down the piping system at the speed of sound in the liquid.
Depending upon the initial velocity and physical properties of the liquid and the
mechanical properties of the piping system, the peak value of the pressure wave may
exceed the steady-state pressure. Water hammer frequently occurs in systems that are
subject to rapid changes in fluid flow rate, including systems with rapidly actuated
valves, fast-starting pumps, and check valves. It is most severe in systems which convey
fully condensed liquids; however, it is possible to develop water hammer-type pressure
transients in systems containing two-phase fluids and gases, although the magnitude of
the pressure rise for these systems will generally be lower. Water hammer must be
considered in the design of those systems where it is likely to occur. For systems
designed to codes that provide higher allowable stress criteria for occasional loads, the
water hammer-induced peak pressure should be evaluated under that loading category.
For systems designed to codes which do not provide alternative design criteria for
occasional loads, the design pressure may be set high enough to envelop the water
hammer-induced peak pressure. The designer is cautioned that this approach can result in
an extremely conservative design, which may be prohibitively expensive. Consequently
consideration of alternatives may be required. Figure 1 below shows an example of time
history profile.

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Water hammer requires careful consideration because it can damage equipment

associated with piping and instrumentation even though the permissible pressures for
piping components may not be exceeded. In addition to the utilization of slow closing
valves, the installation of surge tanks, pneumatic chambers, spring-operated relief valves,
or shock absorbers are sometimes used to help control this phenomenon.

Figure 1: time history profile for a typical steam hammer transient

3. Slug Flow
Most piping systems are designed to handle single phase flow. Under certain
circumstances the fluid may have multiple phases. For example, slurry systems transport
solid materials in liquids and gases may condense certain pockets of liquid in otherwise
gaseous media. Systems carrying multi-phase fluids are susceptible to slug flow.
Chemical engineers frequently encounter the flow of a mixture of two fluids in pipes.
Liquid-gas or liquid-vapor mixtures are encountered in condensers and evaporators, gasliquid reactors, and combustion systems. Also, the transport of some solid materials in
finely divided form is accomplished by making slurry of the solid particles in a liquid,
and pumping the mixture through a pipe. Liquid-liquid mixtures are encountered when
dealing with emulsions as well as in liquid-liquid extraction.
Two-phase flow is a difficult subject principally because of the complexity of the form in
which the two fluids exist inside the pipe, known as the flow regime. The orientation of
the pipe makes a difference in the flow regime because of the role played by gravity and
the density difference between the two fluids.

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The following sketches shown in Figure 2 depict various regimes of

co-current two-phase flow in a horizontal pipe through which a gasliquid mixture is flowing.

Figure 2: different states of two-phase flow

Generally when fluids change direction as in the case of slug flow, a force is induced
at the elbows which equal a change in momentum. Normally this force is constant, and is
small enough that it can be easily absorbed through tension in the pipe wall, to be passed
on to adjacent elbows which may have equal and opposite loads, zeroing the net load on
the system. Therefore these types of momentum loads are usually ignored in the stress
analysis.
However, if the fluid velocity or density changes with time, this momentum load will
change with time as well, leading to a dynamic (changing) load, which may not be
cancelled by the load at other elbows. For example, consider a slug of liquid in a gas
system. The steady state momentum load is insignificant, since the fluid density of a gas
is effectively zero. Suddenly the liquid slug hits the elbow, increasing the momentum
load by orders of magnitude. This load lasts only as long as it takes for the slug to
traverse the elbow, and then suddenly drops to near zero again, with the exact profile of
the slug load depending upon the shape of the slug. The time duration of the load depends
upon the length of the slug divided by the velocity of the fluid.

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4. General Notes on Impulse Loading Analysis

4.1.

Static Analysis

Static analysis is used when the unbalanced forces are small and the total transient
time is long. In the analysis, the peak values of the time-history fluid forcing functions at
pipe segments are applied statically to the piping. The piping stress, deflections, and
support nozzle loads are then calculated. To obtain a conservative result for the static
analysis, care must be taken in applying a proper dynamic load factor to the unbalanced
forces.
4.2.

Dynamic Analysis

The dynamic analysis generally utilizes either the direct step-by-step integration
method (as described in the subsection Pipe Break Analysis) or the modalsuperposition method. In the dynamic analysis, the piping system is idealized as a
mathematical model consisting of lumped masses connected by weightless elastic
members. These lumped masses are carefully located to adequately represent the dynamic
characteristics of the piping system.
The time history unbalanced forces are applied to all pipe segments. Snubbers and
rigid supports are effective restraints for transient forces. However, axial ports should be
avoided in general. To support the pipe axially, lateral supports can be used around the
elbows.
4.3.

Stress Allowable

For the hammering (e.g., feed pump trip) event, the pipe stress from the analysis is
combined with stresses due to pressure, deadweight, and OBE (operational basis
earthquake) in meeting the upset stress allowable. For some water hammer (e.g., check
valve slam) events, the stress from the analysis is combined with stresses due to pressure
and deadweight in meeting the faulted stress allowable.

5. Calculations of Unbalanced Loads

5.1.

Water Hammer Loads

The magnitude of the supply side pressure wave could be estimated from the
following relation:
dp = c dv
Where,
dp = the pressure rise due to the pumps instantaneous stopping
= the fluid density
c = the speed of sound in the fluid
dv = the change in velocity of the fluid
The speed of sound in the fluid can be estimated from:

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c = [Ef / ( + (Ef / E) (d/t) )] 0.5

Where,
Ef = is the bulk modulus of the fluid (313000 psi)
E = is the modulus of elasticity of the pipe (30E6 psi)
d = is the pipe mean diameter
t = is the pipe wall thickness
= is the fluid density (62.4 lbm/ft3)
A typical pump discharge and intake pressure-time profile is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: example of pump pressure-time profile

The time history wave form for both types of water hammer pulses is shown as follows:
Pod = Discharge pressure
Ps = Source (tank or static) pressure
Pos = Suction pressure (while running)
dp = Pressure fluctuation due to the instantaneous stoppage of flow through the pump
pv = Liquid vapor pressure at flow temperature
There will be an unbalanced load on the piping system due to the time it takes the
pressure wave to pass successive elbow-elbow pairs. The magnitude of this unbalanced
load can be computed from:
F unbalanced = dp * C.S. Area
Where,
C.S. Area = Internal pipe cross section area = /4 (Di) 2
Di = Internal pipe diameter.
5.2.
Slug Flow Loads
The force induced due to slug flow is due to the change in momentum with respect to
time.
Fslug = dp / dt = v2 A
Where:
dp = change in momentum
dt = change in time
= fluid density
v = fluid velocity

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A = internal area of pipe

However, the slug load might have two components in elbows having angles other
than 90 degrees. Using the figure below, the two components of the slug forces are:
F1-slug = v2 A (1-cos )
F2-slug = v2 A (sin )

6. Estimating the Force-Time Profile

6.1.

Water Hammer

The duration of the unbalanced load is calculated from:

t=L/c
Where,
L = the length of pipe between adjacent elbow-elbow pairs.
The rise time for the unbalanced dynamic loading should be obtained from the pump
manufacturer or from testing and can be determined from graphs such as those shown
above.
6.2.

Slug Flow

The duration of the slug impact load is calculated from:

t = (L-R) / v
Where,
L = the length of fluid cylinder (the longer the more conservative).
R = bend radius.
= bend angle in radians.
v = slug traveling velocity.
The slug rise time equals the closing time and is calculated from:
tr = R / v

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The slug flow loads should be also investigated for the flow reduction components to
check for the integrity of the system when a slug runs through an orifice, reducers, etc.
The slug rise and fall time in this case is zero, and the impact duration is calculated from:
t = 2L / v
A typical fore-time profile simulating hammering and slug flow load action is shown
in the figure below where the unbalanced force reaches its peak during the equipment rise
time and is fully applied throughout the calculated duration time.

Figure 4: force-time profile for impact loads

Attached is an excel sheet for calculating the water hammer and slug flow impact loads.
Analysis.xls

7. General Considerations
7.1.

Water Hammer
On the pump or valve supply side the magnitude of the pressure wave is
calculated as shown in this example using: dp = c dv.
On the pump or valve discharge side the maximum magnitude of the pressure
wave is the difference between the fluid vapor pressure and the line pressure.
On the supply side a positive pressure wave moves away from the pump at the
speed of sound in the fluid. The magnitude of the pressure wave is equal to the
sum of the suction side pressure and dp.
On the discharge side a negative pressure wave moves away from the pump at the
speed of sound in the fluid. The maximum magnitude of this negative pressure
wave is the difference between the pump discharge pressure and the fluid vapor

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pressure. Once the pump shuts down, the pressure at the discharge begins to drop.
The momentum of the fluid in the downstream piping draws the discharge
pressure down. If the fluid reaches its vapor pressure the fluid adjacent to the
pump flashes. As the negative pressure wave moves away from the pump these
vapor bubbles collapse instantly. This local vapor implosion can cause
extremely high pressure pulses. In addition, there may be a fluid backflow created
due to the rapid drop in pressure. In this case the backflow slap at the idle pump
can be accentuated by the collapse of created vapor bubbles, resulting in an
extremely large downstream water hammer loading.
A separate force spectrum load set is defined for the elbow with the highest pressure
as the wave passes between the elbow-elbow pair. The direction of the applied force is
away from the elbow-elbow pair. An individual dynamic load case is run for each
separate force set; combinations of different force sets could be run as well. This
approach has proved satisfactory when applied to large, hot steam piping systems that
have very few fixed restraints, and a high number of low modes of vibration.
CAESAR II does not check the integrity of the piping system due to the local increase
in hoop stress that occurs as the fluid pressure wave passes each pipe cross-section.
The magnitude of the water hammer loads can be reduced by slowing the mechanism
that tends to reduce the flowrate. In the case of valve closing, this means slowly closing
the valve. In the case of a pump going off line, this means slowly removing power from
the pump. Slowly in each of these instances can be estimated from:
T = 2L/c
Where,
T = time of one wave cycle sec.
L = Characteristic length of the piping system (usually taken as the length between
the pump or valve and the source or sink).
c = Speed of sound in the fluid.
If the pump or valve stops in a time shorter than T then the water hammer should
be analyzed as shown in this example for instantaneous closure.
7.2.

Slug Flow
Slug flow will impact successive elbows and each elbow will have an independent
effect of what happens at the other elbows.
If no velocity data is available for the slug fluid cylinder, the velocity could be
estimated between the values of 0.5-1 times the gas flow.
For elbows that are very close, the user may wish to apply the loads from both in
the same load case.

8. Effect of Hammering on the Pipe Stress

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Water hammer excitation initially produces axial acoustic waves in the steel pipe wall
that can induce locally very high, very short duration forces and stresses. These short
duration loads are usually not a design problem in ductile steel piping systems. Where
crack propagation in welds and material due to water hammer loads is a concern the
following rules should be followed:

A very high number of natural frequencies must usually be included in the

analysis. These are the axial natural modes of the pipe between the excited elbowelbow pairs. The maximum frequency cutoff can be estimated from SQRT (E/)/L
where: E = Pipe material modulus of elasticity, = Pipe material density, L =
Length of a single pipe span in the primary run that is to have accurate stresses
computed due to the passing of the water hammer originated acoustic stress
wave.:
fcutoff = SQRT (E/)/L

The length of any element in the primary axial runs should not be greater than
about ct/4, where c equals the speed of sound in the pipe and t equals the
duration of the water hammer load.
Lmax = ct/4

The inclusion of the response due to the higher modes will not affect the
displacement results (only the force and stress results). Displacement results can
usually be computed accurately after the inclusion of the low frequency modes
with participation factors greater than about 0.01.

9. Modeling Water Hammer/Slug Flow on CII

CAESAR II models the water hammer dynamically as an impulse load. The force
spectrum is defined and applied at the desired nodes for analysis.
The steps for modeling water hammer using CAESAR II dynamic processor are as
follows:
1. Run the static analysis for the different load cases specified for the problem.
2. Open the dynamic input processor and select the type of analysis to be Water
Hammer/Slug Flow (Spectrum).
3. The first step is to model the force-time profile of the force. In the
DLF/Spectrum Generator select User Defined History Waveform.
4. The spectrum generator requires entering a max. Frequency value and the
number of points to be generated by the generator. . The max Frequency value
is problem dependent and could be readjusted after generating the frequency
spectrum to insure having a minimum of one loading cycle. The max number
of points could be limited to 50; however a range of 20-30 is acceptable since

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decreasing the number of points decreases the accuracy of the generated

spectrum.

5. The generator will then require entering time and force points defining the
force-time profile as shown in section 6: Estimating the Force-Time Profile.

6. The spectrum generator will then generate spectrum table values and spectrum
profile graph. It is important to note that a minimum of one load cycle should
be modeled. If the generated number of cycles increased, the maximum
frequency should be decreased as described in step 4.

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7. Spectrum should be defined in the problem through Spectrum Definition

Tab. The defined force-time profile should be specified in the name cell. For
this analysis the range type which corresponds to the x-axis should be
specified as Frequency. The ordinate type which corresponds to the y-axis
should be specified as Force-Multiplier. Interpolation for both range and
ordinate should be specified as linear.

8. In the Force Set tab the unbalanced force magnitude calculated (check section
5: Calculations of Unbalanced Loads) is specified with the actual direction
(+/-) which depends on the flow direction. The applied force direction is
selected (X, Y, and Z), and the node number where the analysis is required is
also specified. Each force set should be having a number to be used in load
cases definitions.

9. The spectrum load cases are defined in the Spectrum Load Cases tab.
Spectrum name is specified in the spectrum name cell. The load multiplication
factor is defined in the Factor cell (a value of 1 is normally used unless it is
required to increase or decrease the load). The Direction and Force Set
number is selected from the pull down menus. In case of having other load or
spectrum profiles additional load cases could be added. Additional force
spectrum could be added in the same load case in case of having several load
sets acing simultaneously such as slug flow loads acting on an elbow with an
angle other than 90 degrees.

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10. The next tab is for Static/Dynamic Combinations. The load cases to be
combined in the analysis are specified in the Load Case cell from the pull
down menu. The pull down menu includes the static load cases solved for the
problem and the dynamic load cases defined in the Spectrum Load Cases tab
as described in step 9. Each load case results could be multiplied by a factor
and then used in the combination load case. However, unless required for
sever transient loads, the loading factors are set to a value of 1.

11. Control Parameters tab provide inputs controlling the dynamic solution. For
most of the force spectrum type of analysis the parameters are set as shown in
the figure below. However, some of the parameters depends on each specific
problem and should be considered before running the dynamic analysis as
follows:
a. Static Load Case for Nonlinear Restraint Status: is defined as per
the static case that transient loading will probably occur and it is left
for the analyst decision.
b. Stiffness Factor for Friction:
c. Frequency Cutoff: should be specified by a value greater than the
peak of the generated frequency spectra in order to yield a
conservative result. In addition the min. cutoff frequency required for

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stress results accuracy should be considered as described in section 8

Effect of Hammering on the Pipe Stress.
d. Spatial or Modal First: if the force sets defined are dependent on
each other such as having force components in the x and y directions,
or operating simultaneously, Spatial should be specified. On the other
hand, Modal will be used in case of having independent force spectra
or force sets.
e. Directional Combination Method: similarly, if the shock loads are
operating in the same direction or dependent ABS method should be
used. In case of having independent shock load directions SRSS
method is used.

10. References
-

Piping Handbook, Crocker & King, seventh edition,

McGraw-Hill.

CAESAR II - technical reference manual, chapter five:

controlling the dynamic solution.
CAESAR II - applications guide.
COADE discussion forums.
Piping stress departmental guide, LGN SGUI 04-360101.001.
Various internet sources.

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