Ultrasonic imaging of electrofusion welded polyethylene pipes employed in utilities industry

TK, Arjun Prakash and O'Leary, Richard and Gachagan, Anthony and Ross, Kevin and Clutton, Edward; (2012) Ultrasonic imaging of electrofusion welded polyethylene pipes employed in utilities industry. In: Proceedings of BINDT 2012. British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, GBR. ISBN 9781622764372 (http://www.bindt.org/downloads/NDT2012_2B4.pdf)

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Abstract

Electrofusion welding (EFW) is a widely used technique for joining polyethylene pipes in the oil, gas and water industry. Like many welding and joining methods, the joints created by EFW can exhibit a range of flaw types that can be attributed to process variables such as: poor preparation of the parent material, contamination of the weld surfaces prior to welding and operator and/or equipment failure during the welding process. This paper describes ultrasonic testing using 128-channel linear array with a DYNARAY system to acquire data from a range of joints created using EFW. The samples were created in the laboratory with a range of defects that represent those commonly observed in the field. The samples were subsequently destructively tested using tensile testing of the coupling-pipe interface. Good corroboration was achieved between the observed weld quality from the ultrasonic data and the weld strength determined by the destructive testing.

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