COMPARATIVE NOTE ON VARIOUS TYPES OF PIPES

PROPERTIES Applicable AWWA Standards Manufacturing process DUCTILE IRON SPUN PIPES AWWA M41; BS EN 545; BS EN 598 STEEL PIPES AWWA M11; BS EN534; BS 3601; EN3600 CONCRETE PIPES AWWA M9; EN641; EN642 Manufactured in various flavours such as: a. Reinforced concrete cylinder pipes b. Prestressed concrete cylinder pipes c. Prestressed concrete non-cylinder pipes d. Bar wrapped steel cylinder pipes High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) PIPES AWWA M55; AWWA C906 EN6730 Extrusion process. Manufactured based on SDR ratio (nominal dia/thickness); PE grade Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) PIPES AWWA M45; EN5480 Two manufacturing processes are common: a. Spiral filament wound process. B. Centrifugal casting with chopped fibre filaments. Manufactured based on stiffness class. Mainly available in three stiffness classes such as 2500 2 2 2 KN/m , 5000 KN/m and 10000 KN/m

Centrifugal spin casting of molten metal. Spiral or longitudinal welding from plates Commercially available in pressure class ratings through ERW, or submerged arc process. such as K7, K8, K9, K10, K12. Manufactured based on designed D/t ratio.

Commercial availability & manufacturers

Available in size ranges from 100 to 1800mm SAINTGOBAIN (Europe) and KUBOTA (Japan) are the leading manufacturers. KUBOTA capable of manufacturing pipes upto 2600mm

There are successful installations of very large diameters beyond 3000mm

There are successful installations of very large diameters beyond 3000mm

Pipe stiffness (E/12) x (t/D)3 Structural Classification of Pipe

High Semi-Rigid pipe

Designed based on (D/t) ratio as per requirement Medium Flexible pipe

Commercially available in the range from 100 to Commercially available in the range from 100 to 1600mm. (Only Pipelife Norway capable of 2400mm. Stiffness classes in large diameter supplying pipes up to 2000mm) installations are generally low. Large diameter such as 1600mm is available in FIBRESTRONG, AMENTITE, FLOWTITE are low stiffness class and low pressure rating due to leading manufacturers of GRP pipes (filament extreme high thickness requirement. wound); HOBAS is with centrifugal casting Beyond 1600mm is used for non pressure method applications. KWH Canada is a leading manufacturer of HDPE pipes Low Low Flexible Pipe

Failure mode

Rigid pipes Flexible Pipe Bar Wrapped Steel Cylinder pipes are Semi-Rigid pipes Semi-rigid pipes. Designed for diametric Flexible pipes. Designed for diametric deflection, Rigid pipe. Designed for crushing load failure Flexible pipes, designed for checking excessive deflection and disbonding of lining disbonding of lining, buckling failure. Needs to and bedding factor. diametric deflection and vacuum collapse. Recommendation is to limit deflection within 4% be checked for vacuum collapse Various grades of steel plate are available Composite pipe. commercially. General usage is 275N/mm2 steel. Custom designed based on application Can be designed with higher grade

Flexible pipes, designed for checking excessive diametric deflection and vacuum collapse.

Ultimate/Yield Tensile Strength

4200 kg/cm2

Composite pipe. 150-230 kg/cm2 (PE 80) 2 Designed to suit custom requirements. However 265-280 kg/cm (PE 100) (Stress characteristics decrease with rise in temp) stress bearing capacity decreases with aging of pipes Low - not recommended for long unsupported Low - not recommended for long unsupported lengths lengths Not recommended - since pipe has low stiffness Not recommended - since pipe has low stiffness and material is susceptible to UV degradation and and material is susceptible to UV degradation and external tampering external tampering Good Medium. Forms star crack which initiates crack propagation. These star cracks are often invisible externally and needs to be inspected from within the pipe at the point of impact. Not possible

Beam Strength Overground installations

High - means can be taken over long unsupported Low - not recommended for long unsupported Medium - means pipe can be taken over lengths lengths unsupported lengths with stiffeners Yes possible. Due to high beam strength and Yes possible. However, needs external stiffeners. Yes possible. However pipe is vulnerable due to structural stability (stiffness) pipe can be taken tampering overground High High Low

Impact Resistance

Weld ability at site

Maximum Working Pressure

Good. Medium. Welding requires skilled labour. Can be Welding requires Nickel electrodes due to presence of high percentage of graphite in metal conducted at site. matrix. Apart from this also requires pre-heating of weld zone and controlled cooling.Not recommended for site welding. 77 kg/cm2 (100) - 32 kg/cm2 (1000DN) for K9 Pressure rating depends on designed thickness class Other pressure ratings are also available Medium Medium

Not possible

Fusion welding is the recommended industry practice

Custom designed based on requirements

Available in pressure class PN5 to PN24 Higher diameters are available in low pressure rating only Light

Available in pressure class PN5 to PN32 Higher diameters are available in low stiffness class and PN rating Light

Weight of Pipe per meter

Heavy

COMPARATIVE NOTE ON VARIOUS TYPES OF PIPES

PROPERTIES Method of Jointing DUCTILE IRON SPUN PIPES Rubber Gasket Socket and Spigot STEEL PIPES CONCRETE PIPES High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) PIPES Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) PIPES Welded or gasket joints Rubber Gasket Socket and Spigot For large diameter installation welding lines are recommended to be set up at site to ensure proper line alignment. Low High Fusion welding Socket joint or Coupling Joint with rubber gasket For large diameter installation fusion welding lines need to be set up at site to ensure proper line alignment. Medium High

Probable Handling Damages

Low

Resistance to tampering External Corrosion

Very Good Is more resistant to corrosion than steel primarily due to higher percentage of carbon in metal matrix. As a general protection all pipes are factory finished with molten zinc spray coating (min 130mg/m2), and epoxy/bitumen spray painting. However, depending on backfill soil corrosive properties pipes may need polyethylene sleeving or even cathodic protection.

Good Steel is less resistant to corrosion than DI. Depending on soil corrosiveness pipes shall need CTE coating wrapping, or 3LPE coating and cathodic protection. For welded joint installation, special care should be taken to provide corrosion protection systems at weld zones. Recommended practice is to procure pipes with factory finished anti corrosion protections

Medium

Bad

Medium. Non Corrosive. But susceptible to decay in presence of high moisture or organic contaminants. It is important to thermally/chemically fuse all cut end of pipes to protect against water seepage and subsequent delamination of material at the point of cutting.

Corrosion of pre-tension wires is very common Non Corrosive. But susceptible to decay in due to penetration of Chloride ions through presence of organic contaminants concrete pores. Failure of pipes common for this reason. Corrodes fast in sea weather & saline water condition. Normally needs organic coating e.g epoxy on pipes for protection.

Internal Corrosion

Commercially provided with internal cement Internal lining is selected based on type of fluid For aggressive fluids Blast Furnace Slag or High Not required mortar lining (centrifugally applied). conveyed. Mainly provided with internal cement Alumina Cement may be used. Epoxy lining is Specification of concrete may comprise Blast mortar lining (Blast Furnace Slag or High often provided for sea water uses. Alumina Cement), may need additional epoxy Furnace Slag or High Alumina Cement depending on type of fluid conveyed and may alsolining depending on fluid characteristics need epoxy lining Low since spigot socket joints are used. Low However for fixed/anchored (bolt) joints electrical continuity is possible No special protection is needed

Not required

Electrical Continuity or Discontinuity Generally discontinuous due to spigot/socket Yes continuous of Joints joints. Requires welded jumpers for connectivity Special Corrosion Protection i.e. Cathodic Protection Yes cathodic protection may be required depending on the soil resistivity. In case of CP systems each pipe joint has to be provided with steel strip or copper strip welding to ensure continuiuty. This is a major concern when failure of CP system occurs, as long stretches of pipe may need excavation to identify the location of electrical discontinuity. 140

Low

Cathodic protection is compulsory if soil No special protection is needed. However if the resistivity is found to be lower than 1000 Ohm- fluid is highly acidic, High Alumina Cement cm to prevent pitting corrosion due to difference lining is recommended in oxygen concentration in soil.

No special protection is needed

Design Friction Co-efficient (HWC new pipe) Flexibility of Pipe Joint in Alignment

100( incase of bare pipe) 110 ( in case of in-situ cement lining) 140 ( for Centrifugally cement lined pipes) Welded joints are rigid. Should not be exposed to ground movement/settlement MS Fittings are often fabricated at site

140

145

140

Type of fittings used Availability of fittings & specials Direct Tapping Facility

2 - 5 (Allowable deflection varies with diameter) Spigot/socket joints are capable of accommodating ground movement DI Factory made fittings widely available

Upto Flexible Pipe. Fusion welded joints can not For joints with mortar seals no joint deflection is accommodate deflection. acceptable MS Fittings are often fabricated at site MS/DI/HDPE Factory finished fittings available

Joints are normally spigot/socket or coupling type and can accommodate deflection

MS/GRP

Direct online tapping is possible. However Direct online tapping is possible. However special Though there are several methods available for chipping of large chunks of internal lining is often care should be taken to ensure corrosion online tapping of concrete pipes, it is a difficult reported. protection systems process as controlled snapping of prestressed wires is required.

GRP fittings are fabricated at manufacturer workshop Direct tapping is difficult. Saddle straps are often Direct tapping not possible. Saddle strap to be recommended. used. All cut edges of the pipe should be duly fused to prevent any seepage of water leading to delamination of the composite GRP material Flexible pipe - needs graded gravel or sand and compaction up to specified limits Flexible pipe - needs graded gravel or sand and compaction up to specified limits

Bedding Requirement in Pipe Material Semi rigid pipe - needs medium compaction and Flexible pipe - needs graded gravel or sand and native backfill compaction up to specified limits

Rigid pipe - recommended to be provided with specially designed beddings.

COMPARATIVE NOTE ON VARIOUS TYPES OF PIPES

PROPERTIES Maintenance DUCTILE IRON SPUN PIPES Maintenance of pipe portion requires replacing the damaged portion with a suitable length rocker pipe arrangement and MJ couplings. All special fittings used should be provided with similar corrosion protection systems. Turnaround time is less to recover operation STEEL PIPES Maintenance of pipe requires minimum time as patch welding often suffices. For major failures special fittings are often used at point of failure. Turnaround time is minimum. Corrosion protection at the repaired position is critical. CONCRETE PIPES Maintenance of pipe often requires replacing the entire damaged pipe length with a new piece with spacers and MJ couplings. (This is needed as cutting the pipe along the length is not recommended.) There are special fittings available as strap on types - but performance of such fittings in large diameter is questionable. Turnaround time is quite high. High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) PIPES Welding of pipe at damaged portion is not recommended. For small damages strapon type leak repair clamps are used - however for large diameter pipes performance of such fittings are questionable. For large diameter pipes maintenance requires replacing the damaged portion with a suitable length rocker pipe arrangement and MJ couplings. Turnaround time is high to recover operation 1) Corrosion resistant in most environment. 2) More resilient to impact damage 3) Lightweight. Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) PIPES Welding is not possible. Maintenance procedures are quite similar to HDPE pipes. Turnaround time is high to recover operation.

Advantages

1) Can withstand high surge pressure. 1) Can withstand high working/surge pressure. 2) 2) Protected against internal external corrosion 3) Easy to weld. So easier to negotiate obstruction. DI pipes can be cut, drilled or welded 4) Can withstand high impact load and traffic load. 5) High deflection after jointing. 6) High beam strength a) Commercial production has size limitations b) At higher diameter, metal thickness is quite high (required to comply with the centrifugal casting methodology) and exceeds the case specific design minimum thickness required to cater to the external and internal pressure requirements. This leads to over conservative designs. a) Tends to buckle under negative surge b) Corrodes very fast if laid unprotected c) Corrosion protection is susceptible to impact and accidental damage d) Being a flexible pipe requires sand bedding and good back-fill compaction e) Requires skilled welder for jointing f) Difficult to protect welded joints from inside. g) Expansion joints are required for long welded pipes.

1) Being a customized pipe can be designed to suit different pressure rating 2) Good beam strength and rigidity 3) Can withstand high earth load

1) Corrosion resistant in most conditions 2) Relatively lightweight. 3) Coupling joints are easier to join 4) Can be customized depending on operating condition. 5) Flexible joints tolerate some deflection 6) Good rigidity

Limitation

a) Heavy b) Joints are relatively rigid c) Repair methods complex and time consuming d) Susceptible to impact damage e) Pipes cannot be cut in the field f) Vulnerable to chemical attack by certain soils and waters g)Difficult to take branching or to add connections after installation

a) Strength deteriorates with time. a) Strength deteriorates with temperature rise b) Susceptible to third party damage. b) Susceptible to third party damage. c) Proper compaction of backfill is must c) Proper backfill compaction is must d) Ultra-violet degradation on exposure to d) Not at all suitable for over ground use e) Leakage detection/underground pipe location sunlight. difficult. e)Leakage detection/underground pipe location f) Susceptible to permeation/degradation by difficult. f) Susceptible to permeation/degradation by certain organic chemical g) Risk of pipe floatation in submerged conditions certain organic chemical h) Difficult to tap or to add connections after g) Risk of pipe floatation in submerged condition installation h) Difficult to tap or to add connections after i) Commercial production has size limitation installation j) In case of joint leakage patch welding is not i) Commercial production has size limitation recommended. Pipe joint needs to be redone afresh.