Stephen Beech, Christophe Salles, Ulrich Schulte
# 2012 Barcelona
Polyethlyene, Pipes, Buttfusion, Joining, Testing Several well established procedures are used for butt fusion welding of PE pipes globally. The most widely used are the European Single Pressure, UK Dual Pressure, and the USA High Pressure procedures. In the future it may be possible to rationalise these procedures. Materials and machinery developments are resulting in an increasing size range of pipe. Confirmation of the appropriate test methods is required to assure weld quality, to fully understand the properties of the welds, and to confirm the suitability of the fusion procedure used for such pipes. The PE 100+ Association established this project to evaluate welds in large diameter thick walled pipe. The results of this programme are discussed and conclusions made.