Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB
Number
Revison
Sign
Dept
Date
Page:

Contents
About this Guide ..........................2
About Waterhammer....................2
About WACA................................4
The Analysis Procedure..................5
Modeling Your System ..................5
Pumps .................................................5
Duty Point ...........................................6
Pipeline Profile .....................................6
Pipes....................................................7
Air Chamber ........................................8

Interpreting the Result ..................9

Interpreting Key Results......................10
Interpreting Result Graphs .................11

WACA 3.4 User's Guide...............12

Installing WACA.................................12
User Interface ....................................12
Starting and Exiting WACA ................13
Entering Your Model Data..................13
Saving and Loading Data ...................15
Running Calculations .........................16
Viewing Result Graphs .......................17
Saving a Data List ..............................18
Problem Solving.................................19

References..................................19

EP03001
1
A Lindberg
WA
2003-04-10
1 (19)

Basic Waterhammer
Analysis with WACA 3.4
Abstract: This guide shows you how to use the
ITT Flygt computer program WACA 3.4 to do
your own simplified waterhammer analysis. Stepby-step instructions describe how to model your
system, enter the model data into WACA, run
calculations, and interpret the result, to determine
whether your pumping system needs waterhammer protection. For the case that waterhammer
protection is needed, this guide also helps you
dimension an appropriate air chamber.

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 2 (19)

About this Guide

Making a thorough waterhammer analysis is complicated and may require
expert knowledge, advanced computer tools, and significant time. However, simple pumping systems can be analyzed with simple tools, provided
the person doing the analysis has solid waterhammer knowledge. Much
time can be saved by not having to do a full-scale analysis. A simplified
analysis may at least determine whether a full-scale analysis is needed.
This guide intends to help doing a simplified waterhammer analysis. The
guide gives an introduction to waterhammer theory and shows how to use
the waterhammer calculation computer program WACA 3.4, hereafter
called WACA.
Note the difference between the calculation, which is the mathematical
work that WACA can do for you, and the analysis, which is the work that
you have to do and that includes system modeling, WACA running, and
interpreting the calculation results.
The target readers for this guide are ITT Flygt sales engineers and applications engineers, who need to know the waterhammer effect on given pumping systems.
This guide does not present detailed waterhammer theory. If you have a
question or want to learn more about waterhammer or WACA, you can:

Sign up for ITT Flygt's WACA course, which is held periodically.

Look for answer at the ITT Flygt Group Intranet, for example under
Sales Support and the headlines Systems Engineering and Marketing &
Sales Systems.

Check the references that are listed at the end of this guide.

Send your question to the central ITT Flygt pumping support at pumpingsupport@flygt.com.

Anyone consulting this guide when designing a pumping system is responsible for making sure that the recommendations in this guide are applicable
for that particular system. It is recommended to take the ITT Flygt WACA
course before doing a waterhammer analysis.

About Waterhammer
The term waterhammer refers to change of pressure in a pipe system.
Waterhammer problems practically only occur after pump shut-off, although problems also may occur at pump start and duty. This guide covers
only the problems that follow pump shut-off.
System components that may break from waterhammer effects are not only
pipes, but also pipe fittings, pumps, and check valves. When discussing the

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 3 (19)

effects of pressure problems this guide will mostly refer to pipes. That does
not mean that the other system components are out of danger.
System components may break from a single surge exceeding rated pressure,
but commonly also from fatigue. Repeated pressure changes may break
components even when the pressure is much lower than the components'
rated pressures.
There are three main waterhammer risks when stopping a pumping system:

The sub-pressure wave that is sent out from a pump at shut-off may be
low enough to implode pipes, to burst them inwards.

The sub-pressure wave that is sent out from a pump at shut-off may
cause vacuum somewhere in the system, which may make water columns collide hard enough to explode pipes.

At systems with check valve, the pressure occurring after the check valve
has closed may be big enough to explode pipes.

Basic Stopping of a Pumping System

The stopping process of a pumping system can be very different, depending

on the pumps, check valves, pipes, and air chambers, and depending on
how they are combined and put together to a system. For detailed theory on
this issue, see for example the references at the end of this guide. A basic
stopping process for a simple system with one pump and one check valve,
and with no air chamber, may be described as follows:
When shutting off the power to a pump that is pumping at steady state, the
pump is slowing down and thereby also slowing down the pumped water,
although not immediately stopping it. The slowing-down of the water takes
the form of a sub-pressure wave sent out from the pump. The sub-pressure
wave travels in the water and in the pipes at a speed that depends on the
water composition and the pipe material, and often is around 1000 m/s.
When the sub-pressure wave reaches the end of the pipeline, it reflects into
a high-pressure wave that travels back towards the pump and further reduces water speed. When that wave reaches the pump, the wave is reflected
into a sub-pressure wave traveling away from the pump and again slowing
down the water. This cycle repeats until the flow reverses, and closes the
check valve. When the check valve closes, a high-pressure wave is sent out
towards the outlet of the pipeline. This high-pressure wave will repeatedly
travel between the closed check valve and the pipeline outlet and decrease
in magnitude until the system is at rest.
Waterhammer Protection

If your system needs waterhammer protection, then that protection may be

made in several ways. The air chamber is often an efficient and inexpensive
waterhammer protection. A chamber is connected to the pipeline, typically
after the check valves, so that the chamber at system steady state duty will
be filled partly with water and partly with compressed air. After pump shut-

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 4 (19)

off, water will flow out from the chamber at pipe sub-pressure, and into the
chamber at high pipe pressure, so that the air in the chamber will smooth
the pressure fluctuations that follow. Another solution is to have the pumps
slowed down by a variable speed drive, instead of shutting them off directly.
However, that protection does not work at shut-off caused by power failure. Yet another method to reduce waterhammer effects is to have lower
water speed and smaller water mass in the pipes. However, you would have
to accept smaller flow.

About WACA
WACA is a computer program developed by ITT Flygt for calculation of
waterhammer after pump shut-off. The name stands for WAterhammer
CAlculation.
WACA has three functions:

Pump system calculation calculation of waterhammer in a given system with ideal check valve. Real check valves do not close immediately
when the water starts to flow backwards, which means that the waterhammer effect will in reality be stronger than what WACA would indicate.

Air chamber dimensioning calculation calculation of air chamber size

that provides given allowed sub-pressure in a given system with ideal
check valve.

Air chamber system calculation calculation of waterhammer in a given

system with ideal check valve and air chamber, but no pump. Your system would most likely have a pump you just do not have to include it
in this type of calculation.

WACA includes a database with ITT Flygt pumps, to simplify entering

pump data. WACA is stand-alone and compact sized, allowing it to easily be
sent by e-mail, CD, and floppy disk.
With this guide and adequate waterhammer knowledge, obtained for example through the ITT Flygt WACA course, you may be able to analyze the
waterhammer aspect of basic pumping systems. Examples of systems that
are not "basic" include those with:

pumps in series

pumps being shut off sequentially

significant differences in pipe diameter or in pipe material wave speed

any node such high above pipeline outlet level, so that the difference in
height is bigger than recommended minimum pressure for the pipes,
expressed as watercolumn height

any part of the pipeline below water, such as in a lake

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 5 (19)

The Analysis Procedure

To do your own waterhammer analysis, follow the procedure below. Each
step is described in detail in this guide.
The procedure suits the case where you have a proposed pumping system
for which you would like to know the extent of waterhammer effect, and
whether the system needs waterhammer protection. When you need to do
another type of analysis, change the procedure accordingly.
1

Make a WACA model of your pumping system without air chamber. See
chapter Modeling Your System.

Use WACA to make a waterhammer calculation on your model. See

chapter WACA 3.4 Users Guide.

Interpret the WACA calculation result, to find whether the extent of

waterhammer effect is acceptable. See chapter Interpreting the Result.

If waterhammer effect is too big, go back to step 1, but this time make a
model for a WACA air chamber dimensioning calculation. Alternatively,
you may reconsider the system design, regarding choice of pump, pipe,
and pipe profile.

If you have run one or more air chamber dimensioning calculation, you
may run further WACA calculations with manually entered air chamber
data, to further fine-tune your air chamber system. Go back to step 1,
but this time make a model for an air chamber system calculation. Repeat until you are satisfied with the result.

Modeling Your System

The first step in your waterhammer analysis is to model your system. You
will need to make model data for different equipment depending on the
type of calculation you want to do.
If you want to do a pump system calculation, you will need model data for:

Pumps, duty point, pipeline profile, and pipes

If you want to do an air chamber dimensioning calculation or an air chamber system calculation, you will need model data for:

Air chamber, duty point, pipeline profile, and pipes

Pumps
If you are modeling a system without air chamber, you will have to enter
pump data. The data that you will need is the following:

Sales denomination, such as "NP3153"

Curve denomination, such as "53-431 MT"

Mains frequency (50 or 60 Hz)

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 6 (19)

Your model may have several pumps in parallel, but only of one model.
If your pumps are non-standard, or if they for any other reason are not in
the WACA database, you will also need the following data for the point of
best efficiency:

Head

Flow

Rotational speed

Hydraulic efficiency

Moment of inertia for the total rotating mass of hydraulic unit and
motor

The above data is in the WACA database for most ITT Flygt standard
pumps. If the data for your pumps are in the database, that data will be
default answers, so that you will only have to confirm it.

Duty Point
The duty point data that you will need is the following:

Head

Flow

Head is the total head, if you are modeling a system without air chamber. If
your system has an air chamber, the head should be adjusted corresponding
to the difference between sump stop-level and air chamber level. For example, if the air chamber is located three meters above the sump stop-level,
then the duty head should be reduced with three meters. The reason for the
head adjustment is that the system after pump shut-off is experiencing the
air chamber, and not the sump stop-level, as the beginning of the pipeline.
Flow is always the total flow in the pipeline at steady state before pump
shut-off.

Pipeline Profile
If you are modeling a pipeline for a pumping system with air chamber, then
the pipeline is to be modeled from the air chamber connection pipe, and
not from the sump stop-level.
A model consists of a set of nodes, each made up of two values: level and
length. Level means level relative to sump stop-level or air chamber level.
Length means distance to sump stop-level or air chamber, along pipeline.
Node number one corresponds to the position of the sump stop-level or air
chamber, and is always set by WACA to level zero and length zero. The
values for all other nodes must be entered by you.
Include nodes so that your model gets approximately the same shape as the
real profile. Do not forget to include the section of the pipeline from the

ITT Flygt AB

Engineering Paper
Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 7 (19)

sump stop-level to the point where the pipeline exits the sump that section
may add non-negligible head to the system.
An example of a pipeline profile and a corresponding, suitable model profile is shown in figure 1.

Node 5,
(11,1180)
Node 3,
(8,610)

Node 2,
(3,3)
Node 1,
(0,0)

Node 4,
(6,830)

(level, length)
pipeline profile
model profile

Figure 1, Example of pipeline model.

Pipes
The pipe data that you will need to enter into WACA is the following:

Wave speed in the water-filled pipes

Inner diameter of the pipes

Note that Wave speed in the water-filled pipes is not necessarily the same
as pipe material wave speed or as water wave speed. Separate calculations
have to be performed to find the wave speed in the water-filled pipes. Some
common values for wave speed in water-filled pipes are 1100 m/s for
stainless steel, 1000 m/s for cast iron, 600 m/s for concrete, and 350 m/s for
plastics. These values may be used for rough estimation calculations, but
keep in mind that wave speed vary, even within the same basic type of materials, such as plastics.
WACA can only do calculations on pipe systems having the same diameter
in every pipe section. If you have a system with pipes with different diameters or with parallel pipes, you may manually calculate an equivalent diameter that gives the same kinetic water energy as your real system, and use that
diameter in WACA. If the diameter differences are not big, then the WACA
result may still be valid. If in doubt about this, contact ITT Flygt for consultation.
You will not need to enter any pipe roughness data, such as "C-factor", since
flow losses are calculated automatically by WACA based on your stated duty
point.

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 8 (19)

Air Chamber
If you want to make an air chamber dimensioning calculation or an air
chamber system calculation, your model must include the following air
chamber data:

Connection pipe length

Connection pipe diameter

Throttling coefficient
When you do an air chamber dimensioning calculation, you must also include:

Lowest head

When you do an air chamber system calculation, you must also include:

Air chamber volume

Rate of air
throttle

check valve
air chamber
connection pipe

Figure 2, Example of air chamber arrangement.

Air chamber volume is the total volume of the chamber. Generally, a bigger
air chamber gives better dampening of both high and low pressure. However, a bigger chamber also takes more space and is more expensive. When
WACA has calculated an air chamber volume for you, you may run calculations with given air chamber size to see the effect of using bigger or smaller
chamber size.
Rate of air is the amount of air in the air chamber at steady state duty, expressed as percent of total volume of the air chamber. Typically, if you want
to do an air chamber system calculation you have already done an air chamber dimensioning calculation, and at such WACA has calculated a recommended rate of air. When doing an air chamber system calculation you may
start with that calculated value and experiment with increasing or decreasing it. Higher rate of air gives better dampening against high pressure, but
also higher risk for totally emptying the chamber, which may be dangerous.
Connection pipe is the pipe from the air chamber to node number one in
your pipeline model. You can use the same pipe type as the normal pipeline,
or you can use a smaller to save money or to obtain a throttling effect. For

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 9 (19)

example, you can have a 100 mm connection pipe to the air chamber even
if your pipeline uses 200 or 300 mm pipes. The connection pipe affects the
nature of protection, although much less than the air chamber size does. A
shorter and wider connection pipe always gives better protection against
low pressure, which is at outflow from the chamber. At inflow to the chamber, a longer and narrower connection pipe gives better protection against
high pressure. One way to get free outflow and limited inflow at the same
time is to use two connection pipes, by which one has a check valve and one
is a throttle, as exemplified in figure 2.
Throttling coefficient is defined as (Dout/Din)4, diameter of outflow pipe
divided by diameter of inflow pipe, raised to the fourth power. Thus, if you
have only one plain connection pipe then the throttling coefficient is equal
to one. One way to get maximum protection against both high and low
pressure is to throttle inflow to the air chamber. Throttling can be done by
having two connection pipes, by which one has a check valve. As a starting
point, and if you do not know if you will need throttling, set the coefficient
to 1, which means no throttling. If you have done an air chamber calculation, and want to further increase protection, you may try to design a system with throttling, and increase the throttling coefficient.
Lowest head means the lowest pressure that you can accept in your system,
and the pressure that WACA is basing a dimensioning calculation on.
Choose a sub-pressure that your pipes can handle, including an appropriate
safety margin. Some suggestions on this issue are listed under the section
Interpreting the Results.

Interpreting the Result

What you want to determine from the calculation result, is that the system
will not reach too high pressure or too low pressure anywhere in the pipeline, at any time, to make sure that the pipes would not implode or explode.
Pressure ratings can be found in pipe manufacturer catalogues. However,
ITT Flygt recommends more conservative sub-pressure limits than typical
catalogue sub-pressure limits. There are two reasons for that. Firstly, experience has shown that wear, fatigue, and uneven pipeline placement may
make especially plastic pipes more sensitive to sub-pressure. Secondly, vacuum may at collapse cause hard watercolumn collisions and very high pressure, damaging pipes but also fittings, pumps, and check valves. Some
commonly recommended maximum and minimum pipe pressure values are
shown in table 1. Note, though, that recommended values may differ from
system to system. If in doubt about the ratings for your pipes, or whether
your system's maximum and minimum pressures exceed recommended
limits, contact the pipe manufacturer or ITT Flygt for consultation.

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 10 (19)

Minimum Pressure
Maximum Pressure
[m watercolumn relative
[m watercolumn relative
to atmosphere pressure]
to atmosphere pressure]
-6 or as stated by pipe
Plastic pipes
manufacturer, which is
highest
as stated by
pipe manufacturer
-8 or as stated by pipe
Metallic pipes
manufacturer, which is
highest
Table 1, Some ITT Flygt recommended pipe pressure limits.

Interpreting Key Results

Waterhammer Calculation

After calculations are done, WACA informs you about key results under the
headline "Now the calculations are ready", as shown in figure 6. You can see
the maximum pressure that will ever occur in the pipeline, and where it will
occur. You can also see the same information about minimum pressure.
Compare the maximum and minimum values with the recommended limits
for your pipes.
If any of the values are outside the recommended limits,
then your system needs waterhammer protection.
Note that WACA may show pressure values that are lower than -10 meter
watercolumn, which is not possible in real water pipes. If WACA gives you
such values, then the results are not correct to the level, and WACA warns
you about that. However, you can nevertheless conclude that the water is
vaporizing and that pressure is too low for your system, and that it needs
waterhammer protection. The WACA key results also include values called
"NQ for the pump" and "NQ for the sutercurve". You do not need to consider that information for the type of analysis that is described here.
After checking the key results, you should take a look at the result graphs
for a simple check that the calculations went correctly. See further at the
section about interpreting result graphs.
Dimensioning an Air Chamber

When running an air chamber dimensioning calculation, you will get the
same type of pressure calculation results as for a normal waterhammer
calculation. Verify those calculated pressures in the same way as for the
normal waterhammer calculation.
You will also be presented the calculated air chamber volume that gives the
calculated pressures.
You will get the message "Now you should make a WACC calculation, with
real airchamber volume", by which WACA recommends that you make
further calculations with given air chamber data, to further optimize your
air chamber.

ITT Flygt AB

Engineering Paper
Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 11 (19)

The air chamber calculation results also include values for "Rate of air" and
"Water left in the airchamber". "Rate of air" means how much air there
should be in the air chamber at system steady state duty, expressed as volume percent. "Water left in the airchamber" informs you about the minimum amount of water there would ever be in the air chamber during a
system stopping process. In general, that amount should be at least ten
percent of the total air chamber volume.
Waterhammer Calculation with Given Air Chamber

When running waterhammer calculation with given air chamber, you will
get the same type of information about minimum and maximum pressure as
for a normal waterhammer calculation. Verify those calculated pressures in
the same way as for the normal waterhammer calculation.

Interpreting Result Graphs

What you want to check from the graphs is firstly the maximum and minimum pressures, just as for the case of key results. To determine that from
the graphs, look at the graph "Extreme Pressure after Pumpstop", as exemplified in figure 3. The maximum pressure is equal to the maximum difference between the curve Maximum and the curve Pipe-Profile. The minimum pressure is equal to the maximum difference between the curve PipeProfile and the curve Minimum. The obtained maximum and minimum
values should then be evaluated in the same way as described under Interpreting Key Results.

Maximum
Overpressure

Maximum
Negative Pressure

Figure 3, Example of Extreme Pressures Graph.

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 12 (19)

As a simple check of input data, take a look at the pipe profile curve, to
verify that the pipe model data was entered correctly, and check the starting
point for the head and flow curves, to verify that the duty point was entered
correctly.

WACA 3.4 User's Guide

Installing WACA
You can download WACA from the ITT Flygt Group Intranet, but you may
also get the application on floppy disk or through your local computer
network, if applicable. The exact installation procedure may depend on
which exact WACA version you get, on which media you got it, and on
your Windows version. The following is one example of how it may be
done, at the time of releasing this guide, through downloading from the
intranet to Windows XP:
1

3
4

At the ITT Flygt Group Intranet, download the file waca.zip to any
folder on your computer. At the time of releasing this guide, the location is sales support>marketing & sales systems>software. Download
by right-clicking on Download WACA and choosing "Save Target As...".
Unpack waca.zip into any folder that you prefer on your computer, by
right-clicking on the file and choosing "Extract to...". The content that
will be unpacked is the installation file install.exe, the actual program
file waca.exe, and a number of data files.
Open the file install.exe, which is among the files that you have extracted.
If you want, make a shortcut in the Windows Start menu to the
waca.exe file, for easier start of the program.

User Interface

To enter data into WACA, you must use only the keyboard. It is not
possible to use the mouse inside the WACA window.

Enter data into WACA either by typing numbers or letters and then
pressing Carriage Return or Enter, or by pressing keys that has a dedicated function as described in the active window.

You may be asked to choose from a number of alternatives by scrolling

upwards and downwards in a list by using the arrow keys and then
pressing Enter.

When you are asked by WACA to answer a question, and there is a

number or a text directly before the colon next to the cursor, then that
number or text is the default answer, so that you just have to press Enter
if the default answer suits you.

In many cases, it is not possible to cancel a data input dialogue in

WACA. If you have entered an input dialogue and wish to cancel it, and

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 13 (19)

if you can not, then you have to continue entering data until you have
answered all questions in the dialogue.

To switch between window mode and full-screen mode, press

Alt+Enter.

Starting and Exiting WACA

Starting WACA

1
2

Open the file waca.exe, located in the folder that you chose at the
WACA installation.
Answer the question about which units you want to use. After that, you
will reach the main menu, as exemplified in figure 4. Exactly what is
shown on each screen depends on previous user input.

Figure 4, Main menu.

Exiting WACA

At the main menu, press the Esc key and then answer Y on the question
"Are you sure?".

Entering Your Model Data

You will have to enter different set of data depending on which type of
calculation you want to do. This chapter describes all calculation cases.
System Frequency

1
2
3

At the WACA main menu, select System setup for i/o.

At the following four screens, press Enter.
If you want to change frequency, at the question "Default user frequency
(50,60)", answer that you want to make changes by answering Y, and
then enter your system's frequency, and press Enter.

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 14 (19)

At the next question, "Save changes in system file", answer YES if you
want to have the chosen frequency as default frequency next time you
start WACA.

System Data

1
2

At the main menu, select the option that corresponds to the type of
calculation that you want to do.
Answer the questions "Project Name" and "Date". This name and this
date appear on result printouts that you can do after a successful WACA
calculation. After answering the questions, you will reach the sub-menu
for your selected type of calculation, as exemplified in figure 5.

Figure 5, Example of waterhammer calculation sub menu.

4
5

If you selected "Waterhammer calculation, dimensioning an air chamber", you will get a pop-up window that reminds you to verify some of
the input data before proceeding.
Select option Input Data.
WACA will now ask you to enter data about your system. At some
points, WACA suggests a set of values and asks whether you want to
change any of them just enter a Y if you want to, or an N if you don't.
Under the headline "Total Duty Point before Pump Stop", enter the head
and flow. Be careful to use the units that WACA states.
If you are making a "Waterhammer calculation with pump & nonreturn
valve" calculation, you will have to enter pump data as follows:
I
In the pop-up window "Pump and Hydraulic Unit", choose
pump and hydraulic unit. If your pump or hydraulic unit is
not in the list, you may have an old version of WACA, and
you should then verify that you have the latest version of
WACA. If you have a non-standard pump, or any other
pump that is not in the WACA database, then choose option
Own pump, after which you will have to manually enter
some pump data.

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 15 (19)

II

6
7

Under the headline "Values for One Pump at Point of Best

Eff", enter head, flow, speed, pump efficiency, and moment
of inertia at point of best efficiency. If you at the previous
question selected a pump from the list, then WACA will now
suggest default values for the pump data, and you just need
to confirm them. If you at the previous question chose "own
pump", you will now have to enter that pump's data.
III
Also under the headline "Values for One Pump at Point of
Best Eff", answer the question "Number of parallel pumps".
You are supposed to enter the number of active pumps together having the duty point entered under "Total Duty
Point before Pump Stop" at shut-off. Be careful to correctly
answer this question, since WACA is suggesting the default
value zero, which would make the program crash at calculation.
Under the headline "Pipe", enter pipe material wave speed and diameter
of the pipe.
Under the headline "Pipe Profile", enter the number of nodes in your
system, and then enter the level and length for each of those nodes, as
modeled by you. Node number one corresponds to the position of the
pump, and is always set by WACA to level zero and length zero.
When you have entered all the data, WACA may show a pop-up window, warning you that some of the values may be incorrect, such as too
high or outside some limit or curve. If you get such message, read it and
check whatever WACA suggests. If you still do not see anything strange
with the values, then relax and assume that WACA was overly alert.

After you have entered all model data, you will come back to the sub menu
for your selected type of calculation. It is now possible to start the calculations, but it is often a good idea to first save your data.

Saving and Loading Data

You may save and load data that you have entered into WACA. Saving and
loading covers all entered data about pumps, duty point, pipeline profile,
pipes, air chamber, and project name and date, but not calculation results.
Saving Data

At the sub-menu for your selected type of calculation, select the option
Input / Output <store/read>, and on the next screen the option Store
values on disc.
Enter a file name and keep the name length at no more than eight characters. This file name is only the name of your data file it does not affect the project name that shows up on printouts. The file will be stored
in the same folder as the WACA program, and will get the extension
".wac".

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 16 (19)

Loading Data

At the main menu, select Read values from disc, or at the sub-menu for
your selected type of calculation, select Input / Output <store/read>,
followed by Read values from disc.
Enter the file name for the file that contains your data, without the
extension ".wac".

If there is a file having the name that you specified and being located in
the same folder as your waca.exe file, then you will be asked to enter a
project name and a date. WACA suggests as default values the name and
date that was saved with the data. Answer those questions.

If there is no file having the name that you specified and being located
in the same folder as your waca.exe file, then you will get an error message.

Running Calculations
Before starting a WACA calculation, it is recommended to save entered data
since there is a risk that WACA will automatically shut down itself if anything goes wrong with the calculation and then you would have to start
WACA and enter all the data again.
The results of the calculations consist of two parts. Key results are presented
on the screen directly after the calculation is done, and can be saved into a
data list file. Detailed data, describing the head and flow variations over
time is stored in the program, allowing you to make graphs.
If the calculations fail, you may get an error message with possible error
descriptions, but WACA may also shut itself down, or "crash". For tips on
what may have gone wrong, see chapter Problem Solving.
1
2

If you want, save your data.

At the sub-menu for your selected type of calculation, select Waterhammer calculation. Now WACA performs the actual calculations, determining how head and flow varies over the time from pump switch-off
to complete system rest. If the calculations succeed, you get a key-results
window, as exemplified in figure 6.

When you are done with reading key results, press Enter, and you will
get back to the sub menu for the type of calculation that you have chosen.

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 17 (19)

Figure 6, Example of key-results window.

Viewing Result Graphs

The key results shown in the WACA window directly after a calculation is
run may be enough for you to answer the question whether your system
needs waterhammer protection. However, you may be interested in seeing
the calculated pumping system stopping process in more detail, through
graphs showing the head and flow over the time from pump shut-off to
system rest. You may view result graphs directly on the screen, you may
print the graphs on paper, and you may copy the graphs for pasting into
other applications.
Viewing Graphs on Screen

To view result graphs from the latest calculation directly on the screen:
1
2

At the given sub menu, press F3 and then on the next question 1.
On the question "Do you want the vacuum-line to be plotted?", answer
Y if you want your graph to have a line showing zero pressure, and otherwise N. Now you should get a full-screen plot with headline "Extreme
Pressures after Pump Stop", showing extreme pressures as a function of
distance to the pump.
Press Enter, and at the following question press Enter again. Now you
should get a full-screen plot with headline "Time-Plot", showing flow,
head, and speed next to the pump or air chamber as a function of time
elapsed after pump shut-off.
Press Enter, and at the following question press Enter again.
When you got the first plot on the screen, the WACA application window automatically went over to full-screen mode. To manually switch
between window mode and full-screen mode, press Alt+Enter.

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 18 (19)

Printing Graphs on Paper

To print your result graphs on paper, you first have to do some preparations:
1
2

At the WACA main menu, select System setup for i/o.

At the question "Printer connected to port", type the name of a print
server port, such as LPT1, that your preferred printer is connected to
and press Enter. If in doubt about which name that is, contact your local
computer system administrator.
3 At the table "Plotter Settings", make sure that "Plotter Interface" is 1,
that "Plotter connected to port" is the name of the print server port, and
that "Rotation of drawings" is 180. Do not change any other values. At
the following two tables, "Screen Colours" and "Screen Graph Colours",
do not change anything.
4 At the next question, press Enter.
To print the graphs:

At the sub-menu for the type of calculation that you have done, press
F3. Then select 0, for "paper".

Copying Graphs into Other Applications

Graphs can be copied and pasted by using the standard procedure for copying windows in Microsoft Windows:
1
2
3
4

If your graph window is in full-screen mode, you need to switch to

windows mode, by pressing Alt+Enter.
Make sure that the window that you want to copy is active (the window
header should be blue, not grey).
Press Alt+Print Screen.
Go to the application to which you want to paste your graph, such as
Microsoft Word, or to a picture formatting application, such as Microsoft Paint, for further formatting.
Paste the graph by using the target applications paste command.

Saving a Data List

The input data for the latest calculation can be saved into a text file together with the calculation key results. The file will be saved into the same
folder as where your waca.exe file is located, and it will get the extension
".prn". The file can be opened with text editors such as Microsoft Notepad and Microsoft Word. This is how to save a data list:
1
2

At the sub-menu for the type of calculation that you have done, press
F5.
On the filename question, type the file name at which you want to save
you data list, and press Enter.

Engineering Paper

ITT Flygt AB

Basic Waterhammer Analysis with WACA 3.4

Page: 19 (19)

Problem Solving
If WACA suddenly shuts down, or halts and doesn't take any input, try the
following:

Double-check all entered values.

Check the units for all entered values, to verify that you have not for
example entered a [l/s] value where WACA assumes a [m3/s] value.

Check that you have entered the correct number of pumps at "Number
of parallel pumps". You are supposed to enter the number of active
pumps that together are pumping the duty flow before pump shut-off.
For example, if your system has two parallel pumps by which never
more than one is on duty at the same time, then "Number of parallel
pumps" should be set to 1.

Verify that the duty point that you have entered is on the QH curve for
the pump that you have selected.

Verify that the duty point that you have entered is not only on the QH
curve for the pump, but also on the system curve. One way to verify
that is by a Duty Point Analysis in Flyps.

If you have selected "own pump" and the pump for which you entered
pump data is throttled, such as some grinder pumps, then WACA may
not be able to correctly model that curve, so that the duty point does
not match the HQ curve. Try to model your system with another pump
offering the same duty point.

References
1. Waterhammer Systems and Applications Engineering Bulletin from
ITT Flygt, Solna, Sweden (1981). A detailed description of the waterhammer phenomenon, together with a description of the WACA calculation algorithms.
2. Waterhammer in Simple Pumps Systems Brochure from ITT Flygt,
Solna, Sweden (1992). An easy-to-read description of the waterhammer
phenomenon.
3. Wylie, E. B. and Streeter, V. L., Fluid Transients, 1978, McGraw-Hill.
4. Fox, J. A., Transient Flow in Pipes and Open Channels and Sewers,
1989, Prentice Hall.