Experimental study of water hammer-induced forces and deformations in dry pipe fire protection systems

When designing a fire protection system, every effort should be taken to ensure its maximum operational safety. Therefore, correct identification of the dynamic load affecting the system during water hammer occurrence is essential to increase the operational reliability of such fire protection systems on their design stage. A test stand with a simple deluge system was designed for the experiments. The layout consisted of a distribution duct and one straight branch line (including three different diameter values) equipped with three fire nozzles. However, the main objective of this study is not to study the water hammer itself but, rather, to study the forces and displacements induced by the water hammer. The measurement results will be used to calibrate a mathematical model created using MATLAB software. The verified model will in turn enable numerical determination of the dynamic force values for larger systems. Furthermore, these force values will allow for pinpointing the critical sections, for which it is necessary to prevent displacements or transfer the acting forces to the building structure.