1. Effect of biological degradation by termites on the abnormal leakage of buried HDPE pipes.
- Author
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Yang, Xiao-Lei, Wang, Sheng-Hui, Gong, Yi, and Yang, Zhen-Guo
- Subjects
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BIODEGRADATION , *BURIED pipes (Engineering) , *TERMITES , *LEAKAGE , *PIPE , *COST effectiveness - Abstract
• The abnormal leakage of a buried high-density polyethylene pipes was studied. • The common failure causes like erosion-corrosion and mechanical damage were discussed and excluded. • Biological degradation induced by termites attack was the root cause of this failure case. Buried high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes are widely utilized to transport gas and water due to its great shape flexibility, light weight and cost effectiveness. Because of the concentration of population and wealth, leakage accidents of buried HDPE pipelines would lead to catastrophic loss of life and property. Therefore, the comprehensive investigation and understanding of the mechanisms behind the unexpected failure of buried HDPE pipes is of great significance. In this paper, abnormal leakage occurred on the buried HDPE pipes in China. Multiple of holes and cracks were observed on the buried HDPE pipes during visual examination. Considering that no obvious third-party interference existed during the service period, systematic analyses on both mechanical properties and chemical structure were conducted to figure out the root cause of the failure. The results indicated that the abnormal leakage of the buried HDPE pipes resulted from the biological degradation by termites. Some countermeasures were also proposed to avoid the similar failure occurred again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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