Efficient approach toward the application of the Godunov method to hydraulic transients

Abstract

Abstract The proposed study investigated the applicability of the finite volume method (FVM) based on the Godunov scheme to transient water hammer with shock front simulation, in which intermediate fluxes were computed using either first-order or second-order Riemann solvers. Finite volume (FV) schemes are known to conserve mass and momentum and produce the efficient and accurate realization of shock waves. The second-order solution of the Godunov scheme requires an efficient slope or a flux limiter for error minimization and time optimization. The study examined a range of limiters and found that the MINMOD limiter is the best for modeling water hammer in terms of computational time and accuracy. The first- and second-order FVMs were compared with the method of characteristics (MOCs) and experimental water hammer measurements available in the literature. Both the FV methods accurately predicted the numerical and experimental results. Parallelization of the second-order FVM reduced the computational time similar to that of first-order. Thus, the study presented a faster and more accurate FVM which is comparable to that of MOC in terms of computational time and precision, therefore it is a good substitute for the MOC. The proposed study also investigated the implementation of a more complex convolution-based unsteady friction model in the FVM to capture real pressure dissipation. The comparison with experimental data proved that the first-order FV scheme with the convolution integral method is highly accurate for computing unsteady friction for sudden valve closures.