PE100+ contributes to an improvement of pipe test standards by organising Round Robin Tests

The PE100+ Association organised a Round Robin Test (RRT) on the hydrostatic pressure test according to ISO 1167-1/2 (20°C, Hoop Stress 12.4MPa) with help of their Technical Administrator Kiwa. All PE100+ Members and PE100+ accredited or interested laboratories were invited. 18 laboratories participated anonymously in this RRT.

Beside the statistical evaluation of the pressure test results, a deeper investigation was done by means of a questionnaire on the impact of the water quality, the sample preparation, the equipment used and the experience of the lab.

Compared to other RRT performed on the ISO1167 standard, this RRT shows slightly smaller variations in reproducibility and repeatability. There were no laboratories in the RRT that were classified as statistical outliers.
However, with help of the additional questionnaire, it was noted that not all the labs precisely followed the ISO standard! There is certainly room for a further improvement of the reproducibility of the hydrostatic pressure test results between laboratories.
The RRT results will be used in the standardisations committees to further improve the pipe standards.