machinery | Joining


macines – designed for Rieber system multisocketing on PVC pipes up to 110mm in diameter. “Our decision to invest in these new technologies


encourages not only a regard for the environment, but leads to a reduction of pipe production costs – allowing faster returns on capital expenditure,” said the company. Unibell belling machines heat the pipe using short


Above: Sica has extended its electric belling machines to a wider range of PP and PVC pipes


This ensures that everything is set up correctly and helps avoid failures when pipes are welded in the ground. Impact carried out the plastic pipe quality testing in


accordance with WIS 4-32-08, which specifies a pull test on a universal test machine. Multiple test specimens were machined to the geometry specified by the standard, with a length of 180mm and a width of 80mm. The results indicated a brittle failure. On examining


the welds further, the cause was found to be that a PE100 pipe had been joined to a PE80 pipe. However, the welder had set the welding machine up to weld PE100 pipes – so the fusion temperature was not correct. This led to under-heating at the weld interface, which contributed to a brittle failure. Because the testing was done before installation, the


Right: McElroy says its Hornet is the first all-in-one


fusion tool for outlet fusion of PP pipe


problem was identified and caught before any pipes had been laid. Had the problem not been spotted, the whole pipeline would have been installed. It is likely from the peak loads obtained by the pipe that the system would have passed the pressurisation test without leakages – leaving a substandard pipeline system installed underground, and further infrastructure that would probably have failed prematurely. In this case, the client avoided replacing the pipeline,


which would have involved significant cost to identify and locate the problem, remove the infrastructure and carry out re-work – as well as the cost of downtime.


Electric extension Sica of Italy says that it has extended its ‘electric’ belling machines to a wider range of pipes. The company says that the concept – in which


traditional hydraulic and pneumatic socket forming units are replaced by electromechanical equivalents – is now available for its Unibell 400 range for PVC pipes up to 400mm in diameter. It has also been introduced to its Everbell range (for PP pipe up to 200mm) and Multibell 110 Rieber belling


34 PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | June 2017 www.pipeandprofile.com


wave IR heating elements (or ‘short wave ovens’) that maximise heating efficiency thanks to accurately defined oven geometry and precise distribution of the heating elements. Benefits include lower effective energy consumption, and the time needed to bring the pipe to the required thermal conditions. Sica says that using electrical technology has several benefits: dynamic operation, lower noise, high precision and repeatability of positioning, and real-time control of process parameters. There are also advantages to removing hydraulic machines from the production process – especially in terms of eliminating oil-related problems such as viscosity variations (which can affect machine re- sponse), leakage and contamination. It also cuts noise levels and energy consumption, says the company.


Electrofusion award MSA Engineering Systems has won a UK innovation award, for its development of a wire laying system that simplifies the process of electrofusion. MSA says that its saddle wire laying (SWL) system – which installs heating wires into curved surfaces to make electrofusion saddle fittings – overcomes the limitations of traditional manufacturing methods. The same electrofusion wire laying principle can be applied in cylindrical parts to make electrofusion fittings for large diameter pipelines, or specialist smaller electro- fusion fittings, says MSA.


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