Effect of seawater environmental exposure on fatigue properties of polyethylene pipe

Technical Report · Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6709092· OSTI ID:6709092

Tipton, D G

One laboratory study at NIT was reported to show an unexpected decrease in crystallinity for a polyethylene material exposed to fatigue loading in a synthetic seawater solution. High density polyethylene Sclairpipe, from the OTEC-1 cold water pipe, was evaluated for resistance to corrosion fatigue in natural seawater. Intermediate crystallinity measurements (via bulk density) showed no effect of corrosion fatigue exposure. Heat of fusion (a relative indicator of crystallinity) also showed no effect of the exposure. Seawater exposure produced no significant change in tensile strength. One failure was observed during the corrosion fatigue tests and was attributed to porosity observed by fractography. These data suggest that high density polyethylene is not significantly sensitive to degradation of fatigue strength in natural seawater.

• Research Organization: LaQue Center for Corrosion Technology, Inc., Wrightsville Beach, NC (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-31-109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6709092
• Report Number(s): ANL/OTEC-BCM-015
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
OCEAN THERMAL POWER PLANTS
PIPES
POLYETHYLENES
CORROSION FATIGUE
SEAWATER
CORROSIVE EFFECTS
CORROSION RESISTANCE
DENSITY
FLEXURAL STRENGTH
FUSION HEAT
MECHANICAL TESTS
TENSILE PROPERTIES
ENTHALPY
FATIGUE
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS TESTING
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POLYMERS
POLYOLEFINS
POWER PLANTS
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
TESTING
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
TRANSITION HEAT
WATER
140800* - Solar Energy- Ocean Energy Systems
360403 - Materials- Polymers & Plastics- Mechanical Properties- (-1987)
360405 - Materials- Polymers & Plastics- Degradation & Erosion- (-1987)