Burn, Richards
Fracture # 1995 Edinburgh
Fracture toughness tests have been used with uPVC pipe for more than a decade. Standard methods of testing are described in British and ASTM Standards and in an I S 0 draft. Analysis of the British methods associated with the introduction of a fracture toughness test into joint Ausmlia/New Zealand Standards for uPVC pipe has shown that the Standard methods are unnecessarily prescriptive and that the allowed tolerance on test dimensions can lead to large errors in the test result. This paper looks at the role of fracture toughness in determining pipe behaviour, the effects that variations in factors including notch depth, notch sharpness and test temperature have on the test result, and describes the approach used in the development of a test method for the joint AustralianNew Zealand standard.
