SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1993
STP24305S

Rapid Crack Propagation in Polyethylene Pipes: The Role of Charpy and Dynamic Fracture Testing

Source

Pressurized pipelines of extruded ductile polyethylenes can, under severe conditions, fail by brittle rapid crack propagation (RCP). Critical pressures, below which RCP always arrests, have been measured for grades of medium-density (MDPE) and modified high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe, using a small-scale test. For 180-to 250-mm-diameter pipe of 11-to 24-mm wall thickness, HDPE performs much better than MDPE; but both materials show temperature, crack velocity, and thickness-promoted ductile-brittle transitions, beyond which their behaviors converge. Instrumented Charpy impact tests reflect the transitions, but only qualitatively. High-speed double-torsion tests for dynamic crack resistance across a spectrum of crack velocities yield only plane-strain data, even at 0°C and for specimens only 6 mm thick. They therefore do not help to locate the thickness-dependent fracture transition, but more efficiently characterize the worst case of a highly constrained crack in a thick pipe.

Author Information

Leevers, PS
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK
Yayla, P
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK
Wheel, MA
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK
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Details
Developed by Committee: E08
Pages: 826–839
DOI: 10.1520/STP24305S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-5241-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-1867-6