Buffalo - Monotonic Tensile Tests of Single Joint

The objective of this test series was to identify the failure mechanism of the joint retrofit with Starline® 2000 liner, verify the feasibility of the setup for the shake table tests and prepare for the dynamic tests later on.

Two monotonic tensile tests were performed on the two joints of pipeline specimen SP1 using the west shake table in SEESL at UB. Before the tests, camera inspections were performed to investigate the initial condition of the bond between the liner and the DI pipeline.

The east joint was tested first with the valves closed at either end of the pipe and pressurized to 45 psi. Since the pressure was not manually regulated in this test, the pressure dropped gradually as the pipe elongated. Readings from the strain gauges on the pipe were used to determine the extent of liner de-bonding during the test. No failure was observed in the east joint.

The west joint was then tested with a manually regulated pressure of 46 psi. As in the case of the east joint, strain gauges were used to determine the extent of liner de-bonding. Unlike the east joint, failure of the liner was observed and caused water to leak from the pipe. Cameras were used to inspect the damage to the pipe liner and compared to the initial camera inspection.