Flow in Damaged Pipe Networks

In this paper, an approximate algorithm is proposed to eliminate false negative (gauge) pressures that appear during the analysis of a water‐distribution system. Emphasis is placed on the solution of the problem rather than on its cause. The formulation is based on a system of equations for a network that has been constructed using the continuity equations for each node and the head‐loss equations for each pipe. It contemplates two situations: one in which the elimination of a false negative pressure leads to the emptying of all the pipes that join a node, and the other in which the conditions are such that the elimination of the negative pressure leads to one or more pipes flowing partially full as an open channel. Two examples are presented to illustrate the applicability of the approximation, one for an imaginary simple network and the other for a water‐delivery system in a large city.