Transient Modeling of Arbitrary Pipe Networks by a Laplace-Domain Admittance Matrix

Abstract

An alternative to the modeling of the transient behavior of pipeline systems in the time-domain is to model these systems in the frequency-domain using Laplace transform techniques. Despite the ability of current methods to deal with many different hydraulic element types, a limitation with almost all frequency-domain methods for pipeline networks is that they are only able to deal with systems of a certain class of configuration, namely, networks not containing second-order loops. This paper addresses this limitation by utilizing graph theoretic concepts to derive a Laplace-domain network admittance matrix relating the nodal variables of pressure and demand for a network comprised of pipes, junctions, and reservoirs. The adopted framework allows complete flexibility with regard to the topological structure of a network and, as such, it provides an extremely useful general basis for modeling the frequency-domain behavior of pipe networks. Numerical examples are given for a 7- and 51-pipe network, demonstrating the utility of the method. © 2009 ASCE.