Calculate wave speed using the auxiliary calculator

Step-by-step guide

When performing a surge analysis in InfoSurge Pro, the ability to properly calculate wave speed is important, as wave speed plays a critical role. Wave speed is impacted by several factors, including pipe material, pipe diameter, and the pipe restrainment method being used.

This example calculates the wave speed for a cast iron pipe, and then compares it to the wave speed calculated for a different pipe material.

1. Double-click the desired project .aprx file to open ArcGIS Pro.
2. Click the InfoWater Pro tab to open the InfoWater Pro ribbon.
3. In the Project panel, click Initialize.
4. From the Model Explorer, InfoSurge toolbar, click the Auxiliary Calculator drop-down and select Wave Speed.

5. In the InfoSurge Calculator – Wave Speed dialog box, make sure that English units are enabled.
6. From the Liquid group box, expand the drop-down and pick Water, if it is not already selected.
7. In the Pipe Material drop-down, select Cast Iron.
8. Set a Pipe Internal Diameter of 10 inches.
9. Set a Pipe Wall Thickness of 1 inch.
10. From the Pipe Restrainment drop-down, select The pipeline is anchored against longitudinal movement.

This field is a factor that indicates how well the pipe is prevented from moving axially.

11. Click Compute to calculate the wave speed.

In this example, the wave speed is calculated at 1372.85 meters per second, or 4504.32 feet per second.

Now, repeat the process, changing the pipe material to see how it impacts wave speed:

12. From the Pipe Material drop-down, select ABS (Plastic).
13. Leave all other values as is, and click Compute again.

Note the drastic reduction in wave speed by switching the pipe material from cast iron to plastic. Here, the wave speed is calculated at 419.32 meters per second, or 1375.80 feet per second.

14. Continue to experiment with pipe material to see how it factors into wave speed.
15. When finished, Close the InfoSurge Calculator.