An improved method for incorporating pipe components into the analysis of hydraulic networks: Fid-Bau Portal

An improved method for incorporating pipe components into the analysis of hydraulic networks

Gerrish, P.J. / Shayya, W.H. / Bralts, V.F.

The design of pipe networks can be a tedious and time-consuming process. Numerical solutions that implement the FE method (finite element method) have been widely used for the hydraulic analysis of these networks. Existing FE procedures allow for the inclusion of network components such as tees, bends, contractions, expansions, diffusers, and valves into the hydraulic analysis. There are instances, however, when the application of this technique can become problematic due to the prohibitive number of network components. Current FE approaches for incorporating network components into the hydraulic analysis treat system components as separate elements. The associated increase in the number of nodes in the network results in more unknowns and subsequently more equations to be solved simultaneously. The method proposed for the hydraulic analysis of pipe networks handles components by adding their contribution to nodal equations rather than treating them as separate elements. This minimizes the total number of nodes in the network. The proposed method requires less computer time and memory requirements for analyzing a given network while preserving the accuracy of the analysis by incorporating the hydraulic effects of network components. Computer memory requirements for storing and analyzing hydraulic networks with components using the proposed method are comparable to existing FE procedures that ignore these components altogether.