How severe can transients be after a sudden depressurization?

This article discusses how pipeline networks that experience sudden pressure differences, even in the absence of initial system flow, can create severe transient pressures. If a pipe is under static pressure and a valve is suddenly opened, a depressurization wave propagates through the system. As with any transient, reflection is based on the pipe material, and at a dead end the original and reflected waves superimpose. This superposition is almost invariably large enough for local pressures to drop below the gauge value and reach vacuum pressures, inducing cavitation. For the experiments reported in this article, negative pressures were measured for several seconds and a low‐pressure event was followed by rapidly increasing pressures and associated impressive acoustic effects. This investigation highlights that depressurization events are potentially destructive and must be treated with appropriate caution because such shock loadings can cause structural failures.