Current Activities Assessing Butt Fusion Joint Integrity in High Density Polyethylene Piping
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, conducted initial studies to evaluate the effectiveness of nondestructive examinations (NDE) coupled with mechanical testing for assessing butt fusion joint integrity in high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. The work provided insightful information to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the effectiveness of volumetric inspection techniques for detecting lack of fusion (LOF) conditions in the fusion joints. HDPE has been installed on a limited basis in American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Class 3, buried piping systems at several operating U.S. nuclear power plants and has been proposed for use in new construction. A comparison was made between the results from ultrasonic and microwave nondestructive examinations and the results from mechanical destructive evaluations, specifically the high-speed tensile test and the side-bend test, for determining joint integrity. The data comparison revealed that none of the NDE techniques detected all of the lack-of-fusion conditions that were revealed by the destructive tests. Follow-on work has recently been initiated at PNNL to accurately characterize the NDE responses from machined flaws of varying size and location in PE 4710 materials as well as the LOF condition. This effort is directed at quantifying the ability of volumetric NDE techniques to detect flaws in relation to the critical flaw size associated with joint integrity. A status of these latest investigations is presented.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1111236
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-87632; 401001060
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 9th International Conference on NDE in Relation to Structural Integrity for Nuclear and Pressurized Components, May 22-24, 2012, Seattle, Washington, 993-1001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Technical Letter Report - Preliminary Assessment of NDE Methods on Inspection of HDPE Butt Fusion Piping Joints for Lack of Fusion
PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF NDE METHODS ON INSPECTION OF HDPE BUTT FUSION PIPING JOINTS FOR LACK OF FUSION WITH VALIDATION FROM MECHANICAL TESTING