SEDL / STP / STP1093-EB / STP42119S

Is PVC Pipe Strain Limited after all these Years?

Moser, A. P.
Head of the Mechanical Engineering DepartmentProfessor of Mechanical EngineeringDirector of Technical Services at Carlon, Utah State University, LoganBeachwood, UtahOhio

Shupe, O. K.
Head of the Mechanical Engineering DepartmentProfessor of Mechanical EngineeringDirector of Technical Services at Carlon, Utah State University, LoganBeachwood, UtahOhio

Bishop, R. R.
Head of the Mechanical Engineering DepartmentProfessor of Mechanical EngineeringDirector of Technical Services at Carlon, Utah State University, LoganBeachwood, UtahOhio

Pages: 12    Published: Jan 1990

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Abstract

PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) sewer pipes have seen wide use in the United States and this has prompted concern for an appropriate material property design limit. It had been proposed that the imposition of a strain limit derived from long-term creep testing would also be appropriate for buried gravity flow pipes subjected to constant strain. Laboratory tests of pipe ring samples exposed to various strains and temperatures have been conducted for the past 13 years on filled and unfilled PVC compound formulations. Samples of pipe, from a test installation of buried pipe, have been excavated after 14 years and a post evaluation has been conducted. These test results are used to draw some conclusions concerning the applicability of a material strain limit for constant strain design conditions.