MACHINERY | PIPE INSPECTION
Sikora’s X-Ray 6020 Pro is designed for measuring medical tubes
medical tubes. Two critical characteristics of medical tubing that manufacturers need to track are dimensions and surface quality. Single or multi-lumen coloured tubes, which
require accurate measurement of outer diameter and ovality, can be checked with a device from the Laser 2000 XY series. Three-axis models, such as the Laser 2010 T,
offer high precision for transparent medical tubes, while an alternative series – Laser 6000 – offers a higher measurement rate, while also detecting lumps on the surface of the tube. The thickness of single-lumen medical tubes can
be measured during production using the X-Ray 6020 Pro. The X-ray measurement system is designed for smallest medical tubes with diam- eters of 0.65-15mm and a minimum wall thickness of 0.1mm. The system continuously records data about wall thickness, eccentricity, inner and outer diameter and ovality. The device can be combined with a three-axis lump detector: the Lump 2000 T gauge heads detect small irregularities on the product surface after cooling. Devices can be integrated into horizontal or
vertical extrusion lines. New test lab
US plastics testing specialist NSF International has moved two of its laboratories into a single 20,000 sq ft space in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The expanded location brings all its plastics testing and certification capabilities together, including chemical and structural testing on plastic pipes, fittings and valves. The testing laboratories have been relocated
from Aurora in Canada and from NSF’s global headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The new facility, known as the Willow Run Laboratory, is close to NSF’s headquarters. “By bringing our laboratories under one roof, we
18 PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | October 2020
are offering greater ease to our clients, providing advanced plastic pipe, fitting and material testing,” said Dave Purkiss, vice president of NSF’s global water division. The facility offers nearly 2,000 test stations, including stations for long-term pressure/stress testing and hydrostatic design basis (HDB) and minimum required strength (MRS) ratings, as well as short-term burst and other pressure perfor- mance requirements. The lab tests pipes up to 18in diameter under sustained pressure, and up to 4in diameter pipes for chlorine resistance. It also evaluates the long-term impact of disinfectants such as chlorine, chlorine dioxide and chloramines on plastic material performance. Other specialities include slow crack growth (SCG) validation and rapid crack propagation (RCP) testing.
Nuclear option One key reason for inspecting pipe is to assess its safety – and there can be few more critical environ- ments than the nuclear industry. HDPE pipe has been used in nuclear power plants for some time in mainly non-safety related applications. However, it has recently begun to be used in safety applications. The main difference is that, in safety related applications, pipes must be designed to withstand higher loads – such as from gravity and earthquakes – and temperature. Researchers in China recently studied the mechanical behaviour of an HDPE pipe under various loads in a nuclear power plant pipe gallery, using finite element analysis (FEA). Pipes in a pipe gallery are suspended – rather than being buried. Compared with buried pipe- lines, the natural frequencies of suspended pipelines in pipe gallery are lower, which may cause resonance under seismic wave loads. “Therefore, the seismic design of pipelines in
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