Acceptance criteria for non-destructive testing of PE electrofusion joints

Author(s) : Sjoerd Jansma, René Hermkens

More than 20,000 km of rigid PVC (or PVC-U) pipes are currently in use for the distribution of natural gas in the Netherlands. In this decade, the majority of these pipes will reach their initially specified lifespan of 50 years. In the light of a possible replacement surge, it is increasingly important to identify...

Author(s) : Christian Schalich

Plastic pipes for infrastructure and building applications are precisely specified with regards to wall thickness and diameter. Pipe manufacturers use different measuring methods in order to ensure the required dimensional accuracy and maintain a constant high quality. This paper introduces a measuring system based on...

Author(s) : M. Eckes & Dr. B. Baudrit, Dr. M. Troughton & D. Wylie, H. van Laak & J. Fritz

Unplasticized polyamide 12 (PA-U12) is increasingly being used in pipe applications, especially in the gas sector. However, the material behavior in the usual quality tests for pipe welds has not yet been thoroughly investigated. For this reason, two research institutes, worked in cooperation with a manufacturer of...

Author(s) : Thomas R. Kratochvilla, Patrick Grünbeck, Christoph Bruckner, Raimund Eremiasch, Harald Wilhelm, Mario Vukelja

In the last decades pipe dimensions of extruded PE pipes have reached new orders of size. Today, PE pipes with outer diameters of up to DN/OD 3500 mm are produced and used for pressure pipe applications like seawater intake/discharge, outfall, sewage and industrial process piping systems. To test the long-term...

Author(s) : Guido Quesada

An important breakthrough for belled PVC pipe was made around 2006, when the first versions an integral joint restraint were released, after about two years in development. This type of restraint comprises a casing, usually made of metal such as ductile iron or stainless steel, a rubber seal, and a “C” grip ring,...

Author(s) : Sjoerd Jansma, Peter Cloos, Ernst van der Stok

This paper describes two different test methods used to determine the permeation rate of hydrogen through a reinforced thermoplastic pipe (RTP) system with a HDPE liner pipe and a gas-tight layer at a pressure of 42 bar(g) hydrogen and ambient temperature. One method involThe results of the aforementioned tests...

Author(s) : Jörg Wermelinger, Sunwoong Choi

In the development of an international standard on non-destructive test for polyethylene electrofusion socket (EF) joints, the inspection capability of the phased array ultrasonic test (PAUT) in assessing flaws in the joints was needed to establish procedure qualification of the test method. For this, a worldwide...

Author(s) : Yilaing He, Tianjun Zhang

A new electrofusion PE belt is developed by reinforcing it with various layers of steel mesh. It’s of sandwich structure, consisting of steel mesh reinforcement, heating wire and polyethylene. One or more layers of steel mesh is encapsulated in the middle, and heating wire is embedded onto “inner side” of the belt....

Author(s) : Dominique GUEUGNAUT, Manuel TESSIER, Romuald BOUAFFRE

Given the virtual absence of available up-to-date results regarding the acceptance criteria for defects at electro-welding interfaces, a study has been launched by GRTgaz RICE with the two-fold aim of confirming the accuracy of the PAUT technique for the detection and sizing of calibrated pit-shaped defects implanted...

Author(s) : Ernest Lever

Six different polyethylene materials were tested using Cyclic Pressure Fatigue (CPF) as the accelerating process to correlate the results to conventional long-term hydrostatic test results that were previously developed as part of the material qualification process. The designation of the materials was unknown to the...

Author(s) : Fengliang Jiang, Nian Wu

This article discusses the development of the technique in producing large-diameter, medium-and-lowpressure water-delivery pipes. The continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic tapes perfectlyimpregnated with thermoplastic resin are wound layer by layer to form three-layer fibre reinforced polyethylene(PE) composite...

Author(s) : Christian Schalich

This paper introduces a new technology based on millimeter waves. It provides a noncontact, non-destructive, online measurement of inner and outer diameter, ovality, wall thicknesses, and sagging (sagging of the melt during solidification at a too high viscosity) of large plastic pipes during the extrusion...

Author(s) : R.J.M. Hermkens, H. Colmer, H.A. Ophoff

To investigate the suitability of PE pipes for the transport of hydrogen on a specific industrial site, three topics were investigated. These topics are: the chemical resistance of PE to hydrogen, the permeation rate of hydrogen through PE and the electrofusion of PE pipes exposed to hydrogen. It can be concluded that...

Author(s) : Dr. Love Pallon, Dr. Karin Jacobsson, Daniel Ejdeholm, Marie Allvar, Rikard Kärrbrant

This work presents the development of the Full Length Tensile Test (FLTT), a method that enables an objective judgement of welding quality of electrofusion welds by measuring the energy to break (J/mm2 ). In this way a brittle, ductile and transitional mode failure can be differentiated without subjective visual...

Author(s) : Mark Yu, Dongyu Fang, Peck Tze Kang, Amos Tay , Fan Liu

Large diameter pipe was introduced in refineries and petrochemical plant, desalination plant and power plant for water intake and sea out fall in the past decade. PE100-RC material was selectedfor its excellent balance of superior bi-modal stress crack resistance and consistent high stiffness modulus. Under the...

Author(s) : Farraj Tashman, Mohamed Ali Jaber, Sultan Al Kendi

Analysis of subsea PE100 pipeline conveying oil produced water effluent with traces of hydrocarbons was done after 5 years of leak-tight continuous operation at boundary conditions showed that properties of PE100 pipes are intact when benchmarked with test results conducted on reference pipe sample kept for this...

Author(s) : Juergen Wuest, Benjamin Baudrit, Frank Dorbath, Christopher Pommer

A testing apparatus for determining the mechanical properties of electrofusion and heated tool sleeve welded joints with the mechanized linear shear test (LST) was developed. The LST-apparatus allows the recording of the force as a function of the extension / shear length. It has been proved that the linear shear test...

Author(s) : Andreas Frank, Isabelle J. Berger, Mario Messiha, Carl-Gustaf Ek, Norbert Schuler, Jens-Martin Storheil, Erwin Mayrbäurl, Steve Heeley, Frank Krause, Lodewijk Niemöller, Philippe Gabriëls, Yogesh S. Deshmukh, Florian Arbeiter, Thomas Koch, Gerald Pinter

In order to improve the circular economy of polymers in terms of sustainability and reduced carbon footprint, the increased use of recyclates has become a topic of major importance. Due to their long design lifetimes, pipe applications represent an excellent opportunity to create added value to non-virgin polymers. In...

Author(s) : Nick Mark, Eric Bridgstock, David Carey

An insight into a unique approach to the management of electrofusion and butt fusion joint quality on polyethylene pipelines. The presentation will reference experience and learnings from a system that has already been used in the field to great effect (see Abstract) and a new approach to butt fusion (see enclosed...

Author(s) : Mike Troughton, Amir Khamsehnezhad

the inspection of butt fusion and electrofusion joints in polyethylene (PE) pipes. Depending on the technique and inspection procedure, various types of flaw, including discrete planar lack of fusion, particulate contamination, voids, cold fusions and pipe under-penetration can be detected. However, the usefulness of...