A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR STUDYING RAPID CRACK

PROPAGA TION IN POL YETHYLENE PIPES

P.S. LEEVERS. P. YAYLA. MectwıICel Engl-mg Dept •• lmperlal College. Lcndon, GB

Abstract. fracture surfaces, even in highly ductile pipe

grade polyethylenes, identifying a wholly
There is an increasing need to understand distinct fracture mode.
rapid crack propagation (RCP) in pipelines and
to develop accurate and representati ve tests Service failures of this kind have occurred in
for it. This paper surveys results from the both gas and water systems, but theyare
new small-scale 'S4' test for RCP in extruded mercifully rare. However, RCP can be
pipes, comparing 180 mm pipes of a typical generated repeatably and studied in full scale
MDPE material to a 'third generation' HDPE tests, such as those carried out by British
grade. At O°C, HDPE 'offers a clear but Gas (1,2) and others.
conditional advantage. MDPE is performing on
the brittle side of a transition which can be The British Gas (BG) method has become the
crossed by reducing thickness or increasing benchmark for work in this field. A 25 m
temperature. HDPE seems to be performing on length of pipe is buried, cooled to O°C, and
the tough side of a similar transition, so pressurised (usually with air).· Under high
that changes in operating conditions can erode speed impact from a long-edged blade, a fast
its advantage. The transition involves crack is initiated in locally supercooled
coupled rate and constraint effects, but can section near one end. At low pressures this
be characterised by a material and temperature initial crack arrests quickly but, above a
dependent critical thickness. Residual sharply defined critical pressure, it
stresses, and the use of water instead of air
continues to run, rapidly (70-370 ms-l) and
(as used in the S4 test) as the pressurising
quite steadily, to the end of the pipe.
medium, may strongly influence performance.
Key wQrds : Test, Critical, Pressure, Crack,
This critical pressure, designated Pc' is
Propagation,Plastic, polyethylene, Pipelines.
gaining status as an index of pipe quality.
Some materials yield a higher Pc than others,
NOMENCLATURE
but these cannot always be identified by
conventional impact testing alone. On the
D Outside diameter of pipe (m) other hand, full scale testing is
E Young's modulus (Nm-2)
extravagantly expensive and laborious for type
GD Dynamic crack resistance (Nm-1)
testing of pipe, let alone for quality control
Pc Full scale test critical pressure (Nm-2) or material development.
PcS4 S4 test critical pressure (Nm-2)
MDPE Medium density polyethylene Several attempts have therefore been made to
HDPE High density polyethylene devise schemes for predicting Pc from material
RCP Rapid Crack Propagation properties and pipe geometry only. This goal
SDR Standard Dimensional Ratio demands a good understanding of the force
(i.e. outside diameter/thickness) driving a crack, as well as a detailed
knowledge of the material's ability to resist
lNTRODUCTION it. A Fracture Mechanics analysis yields the
commonly used formula:
The advantages that plastic pipes can offer
gas and water distribution industries, such as
cost effectiveness, easy welding and high
corrosion resistance, are well known. Whilst (1)
their use continues to advance, higher
performance materials have greatly reduced the GD is analogous to the critical energy release
risk of failure by slow crack growth, rate Gc, but somehow measured during
promoting a trend towards larger pipe continuous propagation of a crack rather than
diameters and higher operating pressures. (as in the Charpy test) at the moment of
However, this direction is known to increase initiation.
the possibility of rapid crack propagation
(RCP): destruction by a fast-running axial Both material parameters, E and GD, are
crack. Such a crack leaves brittle, glassy difficult to measure. The use of Charpy test
9.15
 Chisel projectile
Containment cage

Diameter D

Initiation zone Propagation zone

2D 4D

Fig. 1 - Schematic diagram of the Small Scale Steady State (S4) test.

data to estimate GO has not been conspicuously in Fig. 1. oimensions are scaled against the
successful. Some exotic laboratory methods pipe diameter O (180 mm for all tests referred
are available for measuring GO directly in to herein).
brittle and/or optically active materials, but
none are suitable for these tough polymers, A fast crack is initiated by radial impact
for which we continue to develop the High from a chisel projectile onto a well-supported
Speed Oouble Torsion test (3). However, pipe initiation zone (IZ). This technique
is more than a base material and a geometry: eliminates specimen preparation procedures
extrusion introduces orientation, residual such as super-cooling or special machining of
stress and crystallinity profiles. the initiation region, achieving embrittlement
by strain rat e alone. The running crack
THE SMALL SCALE STEADY STATE TEST penetrates an air-pressurised propagation zone
(PZ) along which internal gas-flow baffles,
An alternative approach is to scale down the and an external containment against 'fıaring',
pipe test. This route has been taken by a inhibit decompression and stabilise the crack
number of workers, notably Vancrombrugge (4), tip environment.
whose method has acquired the status of a type
test in some countries despite some doubts The first stage in czLtLcaL pressure testing
about its validity (5). Oownscaling is not a is to establish IZ conditions (impact velocity
straightforward matter. The' violence needed and pressure) needed to inject a fast crack
to initiate crack propagation in these tough for one pipe diameter into an unpressurised
materials, the high crack velocities involved, PZ. A series of tests at varying PZ pressure,
and the need for the crack to settle to a after each of which the crack length at arrest
steady state in competition with fluid is measured, then establishes the critical
decompression processes and large pipe wall pressure. Fig. 2, showing test data for MDPE
displacements - these all demand time and at -lSOC, illustrates a typically well-defined
space. Complete isolation of the transient S4 critical pressure, PcS4, of 2.05 ± 0.05
initiation event from the region of bar. For 250 mm SOR 17.6 pipe of the same
observation, and the prevention of transient material, BG measure a critical pressure of
decompression ("bursting" of the pipe, robbing 6.1 bar: the disparity is discussed in the
the crack of its driving force) during crack last section of this paper.
propagation, 'are what the S4 test is designed
to achieve. Continuous measurement of the crack length
along the pipe, using timing wires,
Our tests have focussed on two representative demonstrates a steady crack velocity through
commercial PE pipe grades: an MDPE (we have the PZ for pressures above PcS4. There is a
tested several of these: they tend to be very minimum sustainable velocity of about 70 ms-1
similar), and a 'third generation' HOPE. BG (6), increasing with pressure toward a maximum
full-scale pipe test results for the HOPE are of some 370 ms-1 (for SOR 17.6).
not openly available, but it is no secret Instrumentation of the pipe to measure crack
that, on the basis of full-scale tests, it is velocity is laborious and expensive, but it is
rated for gas distribution at considerably not a necessary part of the 54 test.
higher pressures than MDPE.
Crack velocity is important not only because
Apparatus and procedure it affects the degree to which crack-blunting
flow processes in the material are
The essential features of the test are shown overwhelmed, but also because the pressure at
9.16
 These results scale well with the BG
g 1.2 observation of an increase from 7 bar to 13.9
bar with a ıo-c rise from 3°C. The greater
increase in BG test s may be partly accounted
for by their slightly higher temperature.
Propagation zone
For HOPE, although cracks could (with
difficulty) be initiated at OaC, RCP could not
be sustained at any pressure up to 25 bar. On
reducing the temperature to -lSoC, however, a
clear PcS4 emerged at 9.9 ± 0.1 bar (Fig. 4),
Initiation zone illustrating the dramatic improvement in RCP.

8 10 12
- performance over standard MDPE grades already
signalled by its 7-bar British Gas service
pressure rating (cf. 2 bar for MDPE). At -30
Pressure (bar) oC, however, the critical pressure has fallen
Fig. 2 - Length of crack propagation with to 3.05 ± .05 bar, indicating that HOPE may
increasing pressure at -lSoC for MDPE still show a temperature-activated transition
SOR 17.6 pipe: PcS4 - 2.05 bar. similar to that seen in MDPE, but at a much
lower temperature.
the running crack tip is reduced from the
initial line pressure by the outflow which it THICKNESS EFFECTS
causes. The faster the crack - up to sonic
net the velocity - the higher the driving pressure. Pipe thicknesses are conventionally scaled
eferred with diameter to maintain constant
We have established that the clearance between circumferential stress. Howeve r, Fig. 3
the pipe and its containment cage has little illustrates a much weaker dependence of PcS4
impact influence on Pc. Unless the cage is present, on pipe wall thickness than the (SOR-l) factor
pported however, stability of crack propagation well promised by Equation 1. For SOR 17.6 MOPE
hnique above Pc is lost, making its evaluation much pipe at O°C, a 70% increase in thickness (10
edures more difficult. mm to 17.1 mm) has increased PcS4 only by
ing of about 7%. This is a surprising result, which,
tlement The5e results establish the basic eredentials if backed up by full scale testing, would be
erack of the method: it generates a robust steady of immense commercial significance.
on zone state, it establishes an 'unambiguous critical
ffles, pressure, and it is very straightforward to
aring', operate, requiring little specimen 15
.e.
erack preparation. The critical pressure appears to
be associated with the existence of aminimum
crack speed below which the crack can no
e::ı 20
'"'"2! 16 1
ı
testing longer outrun ductile crack blunting. a...
eloeity
erack TEMPERATUREEFFECTS
ti!
....
Gl 12
Propagation
•• Arrest
••
urised o
essure, The influence of temperature on PcS4 in MDPE 8
arrest, for SOR 17.6 and II is illustrated in Fig. 3.
itical There is 1ittle increase from -lSoC to OaC 4
r MDPE (2.05 to 2.10 bar), but a further increase to
o
efined ıo-c raises the critical pressure to 4. O bar. O
± 0.05 Per5istent attempts to provoke RCP at ·40 ·30 -20 -10 O 10
e same temperatures of 23°C (and, for SOR 17.6, even Temperature (oC)
ure of of lS0C) have been unsuccessful. Fig. 4 Variation of PcS4 with temperature
in the
for 180 mm SOR II HDPE pipe

OSDR 17.6 For HOPE pipe (Fig. 4) at -lSoC PcS4 for SOR
length
• SDR 11 II is 9.9 bar, but for SOR 17.6 RCP could not
wires,
hrough
e is a
O ms-1
tO
be sustained at any pressure up to 16.3 bar.
However, reducing the temperature to -30oC
reduced PcS4 to 2.05 ± .05 bar, rather lower
than the 3.05 bar measured for SOR 11 and
ximuın
reasonably in line with the predicted (SOR)-l
17.6).
factor. However, manufacturer and
erack
pigmentation differed between the SOR 11 and
it is 4 g 17.6 pipes.

eause
O
• O
20
To explore thickness effects further, S4 tests
·20 ·1'5 ·1U ·5 O 5 10 1S have been conducted on 180 SOR II pipes whose
unting Temperature (oC) outer diameter is turned down in graduated
are steps of one-diameter 1ength, the wall
ure at Fig. 3 - Variation of PcS4 with temperature
for 180 mm MDPE pipe thickness reducing aLonq the axis from its

9.17
 show
initial value of 17.1 mm, to 4.5 mm. A fast Equation 1 predicts) and below which fracture
crack is injected into this step-tapered is ductile and propagation is probably alon
propagation zone at a pressure of 3.5 bar, controlled by pipe wall deformation. Above
some 55% above PcS4 for full thickness. The the critic~l thickness ductility decreases in In a
fracture surface reveals an increase in the range shown, approaching a true plane- fron
ductility at each decrease in thickness; the strain mode. velo
measured crack velocity falls, then quickly deca
stabilises again (Fig. 5). In the example We should note that our use of machining to whic
shown, for MDPE at OaC, the crack arrested reduce wall thicknesses is open to question, runn
completely in the thinnest section of wall. on the grounds that it may affect the residual the

en 400
.
stress state. wate
fron
:s
"o °00
It seems that the critical thickness increases
with temperature and alsa from material to
pres
so
cl> fas
8. 300 i---{> Wall thickness ~ 17.1 mm
material, and may serve as a useful additional
Howe
u) index of pipe RCP performance. Although
current research continues to develop the
~ techniques for identifying PE grades with high subs
o 200 0°00 GD, it appeezs that high rate yield strength eff
whi
~OOOO will alsa prove to be a powerful influence on
toughness under pipeline RCP conditions.
We 11
100 ~ Note, however, that this parameter has no
.JL explicit
criterion
connection
for fracture
with the
toughness
thickness
testing
of
int
7.1 validity, which is designed to be geometry 54

independent. SOR
0:5 0:6 0.7 0:8
if
Distance along pipe (m)
pre
Fig. 5 - Effect of pipe wall thickness on ~14 sca
crack velocity within a single test;' ~ tra
MDPE, OoC. ::ı 12 arrest~
~ CON
~
o. 10
For given test conditions, crack velocity
decreases almost linearly as the the thickness B 8
The
is reduced. Post-mortem surface fractography
indicated an increase in the size of the 8 6
to
wit
whitened tear zones adjoining the pipe Ea
surfaces, increasing their proportion of the 4 cri
surface width and finally precipitating an propagation MDP
abrupt transition to ductile tearing. Since 2 at
it appears that the crack cannot propagate at
below some minimum velocity, inereasing the o O~.----~------~----~------~--~~
test pressure does not increase the crack 4 8 12 16 20
velocity but intensifies plastic flow in front Wall Thickness (mm)
of the crack tip, increasing the crack Fig. 6 - Effect of pipe wall thickness on PcS4
propagation resistance of the material. for 180 mm MDPE pipe, indicating a
'critical thickness' between 4.5-7 mm.
As in metals, brittle-tough transitions in
polymers are promoted by inereasing
temperature and decreasing thickness. INFLUENCE OF THE PRESSURISING FLUIO
Polymers, however, are alsa much more
sensitive to strain rate, which in dynamic The 54 test wo,rksby suppressing decompression
fracture is characterised by crack speed. In of the contained fluid. Whereas in a full-
pipeline RCP, crack velocity is uncontrolled, scale air-pressurised test the running crack
and we do not yet know how the system settles to a dynamic equilibrium in which its
'chooses' its crack velocity (the pipe own driving force is reduced by outflow in its
diameter and SOR undoubtedly exert an wake, in an 54 test the pipe wall remains at
influence as well as those of material its initial hoop stress. This is why PcS4 is
parameters) . We observe that the direct lower than Pc measured in British Gas tests.
effect of decreasing thickness in promoting The argument can be extended to derive a
ductility is amplified by crack deceleration, 'scaling factor' (6): for 250 mm full scale
which reduces the yield stress. test s decompression and diameter effects
combine to increase Pc to 3.05PcS4. MDPE data
Measuring critical pressure for a series of using air pressurisation follows this
thicknesses requires many tests but does help relationship very closely indeed.
to disentangle the effects of these coupled
parameters (Fig. 6). A well-defined critical What is the relationship for water
thickness appears, above which fracture is pressurisation rather than gas pressurisation?
brittle and apparently stress controlled BG tests (2) on 250 mm pipes pressurised by
(although PcS4 is not linear with thickness as water, or water and a small volume of air,

9.18
 show that Pc is much higher than for air Although the HDPE tested is clearly superior
fracture
robably alone. in 180 mm diameter, these observations counsel
Above caution in its use for thicker pipes, since
ases in In air filled pipes the initial decompression the material is clearly on the slope of an
front runs ahead of the crack at sonic incomplete transition. MDPE, on the other
plane-
velocity (330 ms-1), but subsequent pressure hand, is already working on the brittle side
decay and the pipe wall stress relaxation of its transition - so that increasing the
which accompanies it are quite slow. A pipe thickness should not have as large an
ning to
running crack still see s a good proportion of effect.
eat Lon,
residual the initial pipe wall stress. In a rigid
water-filled pipe, the initial decompression REFERENCES
front would travel fast (-1000 ms-1) and
pressure relaxation behind it would be rapid, (1) Greig, J .M. and Ewing, M., "Fracture
creases
so that a crack would have to run extremely Propagation in 250 mm Polyethylene Gas
rial to
fast to keep up with any driving force. Pipes" in Proc. 5th International
itional
lthough However, the compliance of PE pipes both slows Conference on Plastic Pipes, 8-10
the decompression front down and delays the September 1982, York, UK. Plastics and
develop
subsequent relaxation process. This coupling Rubber Institute, London (1982).
'th high
trength effect is enhanced by the presence of air, (2) Greig, J .G., "Fracture Propagation in
which helps to hold the pressure up. Hydrostatically Pressurised Pipes", in
ence on
itions. Proc. 7th International Conference on
has no We have explored the simulation of the effects Plastic Pipes, 19-22 Septemeber 1988,
ickness of water incompressibility by reducing the Bath, UK. Plastics and Rubber Institute,
internal air volume of the propagation zone in London (1988).
testing
S4 test s with solid packing discs. For 180 mm (3) Leevers, P.S. and Williams, J.G., "Double
eometry
SDR 17.6 MDPEpipe PcS4 approximately doubles Torsion Testing of High Velocity Crack
if only 12% of the internal volume is air Resistance", Journal of Materials Science
pressurised (this agrees well with BG full- 22. (1987) 1097-1107.
scale test results), but the critical (4) Vancrombrugge, R., "Fracture Propagation
transition becomes rather poorly defined. in Plastic Pipes" Proc. in 5th
International Conference on Plastic Pipes,
CONCLUSIONS 8-10 September 1982, York, UK. Plastics
and Rubber Institute, London (1982).
The Small Scale Steady.State test can be used (5) Williams, J. G., in Fracture Mechanics of
to explore the variation of critical pressure Polymers, Ellis Horwood (1987).
with temperature and with pipe wall thickness. (6) Yayla, P. and Leevers, P. S., "A New Small
Each parameter exhibits a well-defined Scale Pipe Test for Rapid Crack
critical value; in 180 mm diameter pipe, for Propagation", in Proc. llth Plastic Fuel
MDPEthe critical thickness is about. 5 to 7 mm Gas Pipe Symposium, 3-5 October 1989, San
at OOC, whilst for HDPE it exceeds 17 mm even Fransisco, American Gas Association,
at -ıo°c. Arlington, VA (1989).

20
(mm)

n PcS4

mm.

ession
full-
crack
ch Lt s
in its
Ins at
cS4 is
tests.
ive a
scale
ffects
E data
this

water
ation?
sed by
f air,

9.19