Hammering research holds promise for laboratory equipment manufacturers

Laboratory equipment manufacturers who make products designed to carry water or other fluids may be interested in research carried out at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Researchers at the institution have been looking into the hammering effect, which is associated with a high-pressure wave of water passing through a pipe already filled with the fluid.

This can cause localised high stresses on the pipe, causing it to rupture or burst - but has now also been detected in the impact of a single droplet falling on to a surface.

Despite the small size of a drop of water, the rapid deceleration that occurs can create large forces, as governed by Newton's second law of motion.

Scientists are now hoping to learn more about this process, as previous studies have often looked at systems in a static condition, rather than as dynamic environments.

Their findings could lead to new ways to make sure that components in water-containing systems do not become worn down prematurely.