Papers
Plastic Pipes Conference Association # 2010 Vancouver
Richard Thomas and David Cuttino
The BFF test is an un-notched, constant load, stress crack test performed at elevated temperatures (70 or 80ºC) in deionized water. The test is a combination of the BAM test, developed in Germany in the early 1990s, the Florida Department of Transportation protocol for 100 year service lifetimes, and uses a dumb bell shaped test specimen with Fat Heads. The test was first used in these laboratories for a commercial client, but was further developed as part of the National Co-Operative Highway Research Program under Project 04-32. A test specimen is held at temperature under load until a stress crack is formed and grows enough to cause a separation in the specimen. The crack is always initiated at the largest flaw in the test specimen. Examination of the fractured surface microscopically often shows exactly where the crack initiated. The test can be used either as a quality control/quality assurance test or as a tool for estimating the service lifetime of materials that fail by Stage II slow crack growth. It is particularly suited for resin blends containing postconsumer recycled HDPE because it is sensitive to contamination that may be present in the recycled resin. The test results are also affected by the inherent stress crack resistance of the base resins. More resistant resins can accommodate larger defects before crack initiation occurs. This paper describes the test in detail and presents selected results.
Related papers
Author(s) : Olivera Bilic, Vivek Rohatgi, Brody Peterson, David Hukill
Demand for conduit pipe is expected to surge globally due to rapid industrialization and urbanization in residential and commercial sectors. Just in the U.S., according to Market Research analysis, expected growth of the plastic conduit pipe market is at a CAGR of more than 5% over the next ten years. In response to...
Author(s) : Ernst van der Stok, Mirko Wenzel, Thomas Kratochvilla, Kurt Engelsing, Werner Weßing, Britta Gerets
It has not been possible to derive an accelerated procedure for the Point Load Test (PLT) as a pipe test before now. Further research and testing were therefore needed to establish appropriate requirements for standards including EN 1555-1 to rule out uncertainty in the market. The PLT is a central product test for...
Author(s) : Shane Schuessler, Richard Coombs, Mohamed Hageb, Abdullah Saber, Grigorios Vigellis, Chandra Basavaraju
Bordered by Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo sits Lake Kivu, an African Great Lake formed along the East African Rift. Lake Kivu is one of the world’s deepest freshwater lakes and contains enormous quantities of dissolved carbon dioxide and methane gas held at depths greater than 1100 feet (350 meters)....
Author(s) : Jay Parvez, Richard Nichols
All thermoplastic and thermoset pipes must consider the impacts of cyclic loading on overall performance. Since its first use, PVC pipes have been tested for its resilience to such loading. As testing evolved over time, the method to determine cyclic capacity for gasketed PVC pipes has improved. Previously, the...
Author(s) : Richard Nichols, Jay Parvez
This paper aims to inform users about the improved environmental impacts of PVC pipe reported in the new 2023 Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). The PVC pipe industry published a life cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental performance review of underground piping in North America conducted according to ISO...
Author(s) : Simona Africano, Emanuele Burgin, Thomas Boehm
Since the ‘80s, Polypropylene-Random (PP-R) has been a material of choice for producing plastic pipes for Hot & Cold water installations. Compared to other polyolefins, PP-R has higher stiffness and higher temperature resistance, along with the typical advantages of plastic pipes such as light weight, fast and...
Author(s) : Bruce Mowry, PhD, P.E., Brian Dorwart, P.G., P.E., David Mancini, Bryan Fletcher, Roger Williams, P.E., Rene Brito, EIT, Arnelio Alfonso, P.E .
The City of Miami Beach owns and operates a 54-inch sanitary sewage PCCP force main (FM) that was built in 1977. This FM is the only transmission pipeline for conveying about 22 million gallons per day (MGD) of raw sewage to the wastewater treatment plant. In 2012, the City identified structural deficiencies in the...
Author(s) : Tom Stewart, Richard Hicks, Patrick Vibien, Lance MacNevin
Arguably, broadband technologies have become as vital to society as water delivery, waste removal and energy distribution. However, the role of plastic conduit in broadband is often overlooked within the piping industry and society in general. HDPE conduit is an essential component to the build -out of 5G cell...
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) : Andreas Frank, Mario Messiha, Günter Dreiling, Norbert Schuler, Jens-Martin Storheil, Erwin Mayrbäurl, Stuart Ramella, Frank Krause, Rudi Berning, Philippe Gabriëls, Alpay Aydemir, Thomas Koch, Florian Arbeiter, Gerald Pinter
The Cyclic Cracked Round Bar (CRB) Test has been applied to study the slow crack growth (SCG) resistance of virgin, recycled, and reprocessed PVC-U. This fracture mechanical test allows a quick ranking of the SCG resistance of PVC-U. A clear correlation between the K-value and the SCG resistance has been elaborated....
Author(s) : Patrick Campbell, Joanne Claronino, Shana Meeus, Joseph Sanders, David Chrystie-Lowe
Polyethylene (PE) potable water mains, with design life of 50 years (BS EN 12201), have been in widespread use in the UK water industry for more than 30 years. PE pipe is light, flexible and reliable in comparison with other pipe materials and the UK water industry has made a considerable investment in replacing...
Author(s) : Hermann van Laak, Jan Heimink, Mario Messiha, Andreas Frank, Christoph Bruckner, Thomas Kratochvilla
For high pressure pipes above maximum operation pressure of 10 bar, this paper emphasizes PA-U12 as the easy to install alternative to steel. It underlines the superb performance of PA-U12 pipes for alternative installation techniques without need for a separate mechanical protection. An unplasticized polyamide 12...
Author(s) : Thomas R. Kratochvilla, Raimund Eremiasch, Christoph Bruckner
In the last years effort has been made to develop and standardise new accelerated test methods to evaluate PE 100-RC materials in short times in form of test bars. The two most important developments, the cracked round bar test (CRB test) and the strain hardening test (SH test) were published as final ISO standards...
Author(s) : Vivek Rohatg, Gregor Hiesgen, Mark J. Lamborn, Ashish M. Sukhadia, Douglas E. Simpson, David W. Borrego, Pamela L. Maeger
Maintaining dimensions within specifications is problematic for the extrusion of large diameter thick-wall polyethylene (PE) pipe (> 75 mm wall) due to sag caused by insufficient resin melt strength. However, sag can be controlled through careful resin selection and optimization of the pipe cooling process. This...
Author(s) : Michael Pluimer, Richard Thomas
Over the past decade, there have been several key research projects to evaluate the performance of corrugated HDPE pipes manufactured with post-consumer and postindustrial recycled materials for highway and railroad drainage applications. Three of these projects were recently completed and published (NCHRP Project...
Author(s) : Isabelle J. Berger, Andreas Frank, Gerald Pinter, David Nitsche, Dirk Petry
Electrofusion (EF) sockets constitute a well-established and practically proven technology for the joining of polyethylene (PE) pressure pipes. As for the pipes, the potential lifetime of such welding connections is beside other properties also depending on the resistance against slow crack growth (SCG). The current...
Author(s) : Richard St-Aubin, Dr. Thomas O’Rourke, Dr. Brad Wham, Blake Berger
Molecularly oriented polyvinyl chloride (PVC-O) pipe has been found to withstand large ground deformation during seismic events without damage. The properties of PVC-O pipe that support this performance have been investigated in a multi-year testing program undertaken at the Geotechnical Lifelines Large Scale Testing...
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....
Author(s) : Lonnie Corley, Dane Chang, Harvey Svetlik, Matt Brandes, Thomas Musto, Frank Schaaf, David Fink
This paper presents a brief overview of a challenging project at the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant where HDPE was utilized to replace degraded steel buried piping in a Safety Related water system. Callaway was the first Nuclear Power plant to obtain NRC approval and successfully place the HDPE piping system into...
Author(s) : Francis Reny Costa, Anh Tuan Tran, Jeroen Oderkerk, Thomas Hjertberg, Christophe Salles, Ulf W. Gedde, Benjamin Rabaud, Flavia Zraick
The premature failure of polyethylene pipes in contact with high chlorine and chlorine dioxide, used as residual disinfectants in drinking water distribution, remains an area of concern for water companies particularly in regions where temperatures are regularly or seasonally high. Multiple factors can amplify the...
Members of the Association
