Design and Technical Reference to Mitigate Rapid Crack Propagation inPolyethylene Pipes for Gas Distribution, Final Report, 1989-96

摘要

Because of the inevitable need for procedures that could be used by gasdistribution engineers to preclude the occurrence of large scale rupture in the larger diameter and higher pressure polyethylene (PE) gas piping systems anticipated in the future, research was undertaken to develop and validate an appropriate methodology. The approach that was taken coupled a European-developed test apparatus known as the S4 test with PFRAC, a computer simulation model developed by SwRI. The resulting substantially enhanced S4 procedure requires only a single pipe test to be performed, with the results being extrapolatable for predicting the potential for PE pipe rupture in a range of service conditions. User-oriented design and operating guidelines have been derived from the computer model to allow gas distribution engineers to readily apply the results of this research.