The Effect of Several Service and Weathering Parameters on Tensile Properties of PVC Pipe Materials

N. A. Saad, M. H. Al-Maamory, M. R. Mohammed, A. A. Hashim

Sheffield Hallam University, Materials and Engineering Research Institute, Sheffield, UK.
University of Babylon, Faculty of Material Engineering, Babylon, Iraq.

DOI: 10.4236/msa.2012.311114                

Abstract

For water and sewer pipes, PVC is considered to be one of the best row materials. Due to its physical, chemical and industrial significant properties, PVC is commercially invited to be in the first position. Many other traditional raw materials; e.g. iron, concrete, polyethylene and vitrified clay (VC), are coming in second position. This work is conducted to study the tensile properties of two different types of PVC raw materials (named as gray and white) for water pipe manufacturing by implementing different test conditions. The samples were prepared by cutting off the pipe to an individual cross sectional size rings. Afterward, they were softened smoothly by heating the ring samples to obtain flat standard tensile test specimen. The influence of strain rate (crosshead speed), temperature and UV radiation on the tensile properties of PVC pipe’s row material were investigated. The selected experimental test temperatures are (28℃, 50℃ and 70℃), the selected crosshead speeds are (5, 50 and 100 mm/min) and the UV treatment exposure times are (168, 408, 744 and 1080) hours. The result shows that the gray PVC pipes have tensile strength greater than white PVC pipes. The yield stress and modulus of elasticity are directly proportion to strain rate and inversely proportion to the treatment temperature of both PVC samples. However, the fracture strain was increased with temperature and decreased with strain rate. UV treatment didn’t show a significant effect on the yield stress and modulus of elasticity. This is an indication of PVC long time stability.

Keywords

PVC; Mechanical Properties; Material Treatments, Stabilization; PVC

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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