ASTM Committee approves butt fusion joint test method.
Press Release Summary:
Subcommittee F17.40 on Test Methods, part of ASTM International Committee F17 on Plastic Piping Systems, has developed F 2634, Test Method for Laboratory Testing of Polyethylene (PE) Butt Fusion Joints Using Tensile-Impact Method. The test develops enough tensile impact energy at specific rates of strain to rupture standard tensile impact specimens of butt-fused plastic pipe. It can be used to determine the quality of joints and also the optimum butt fusion joining parameters of PE materials.
Original Press Release:
ASTM Plastic Piping Systems Committee Approves Butt Fusion Joint Test Method
Pipe and resin manufacturers, municipalities and gas companies will be able to use a new ASTM International standard to qualify the butt fusion parameters and procedures for different pipe materials. Subcommittee F17.40 on Test Methods, part of ASTM International Committee F17 on Plastic Piping Systems, has developed the new standard, F 2634, Test Method for Laboratory Testing of Polyethylene (PE) Butt Fusion Joints Using Tensile-Impact Method.
According to Jim Craig, F17.20 subcommittee chairman and industry relations manager at McElroy Manufacturing, Inc., the test described in F 2634 has been used in the industry for over 25 years and was used to qualify the parameters and procedures outlined in the Plastics Pipe Institute Technical Report TR-33-2006, Generic Butt Fusion Joining Procedures for Field Joining of Polyethylene Pipe. The test develops enough tensile impact energy at specific rates of strain to rupture standard tensile impact specimens of butt fused plastic pipe. The test method can be used to determine the quality of PE butt fusion joints made in the field or in qualification testing. It can also be used to determine the optimum butt fusion joining parameters of PE materials.
"F 2634 can be used to qualify equipment operators using approved fusion procedures," says Craig. "It can also be used by anyone seeking a destructive test to determine the quality of a fused joint."
Craig notes that the subcommittee is actively seeking participation from testing laboratories, resin and pipe manufacturers and research foundations in its continuing work on F 2634 and other standards developing activities.
ASTM International standards are available for purchase from Customer Service (phone: 610/832-9585; service@astm.org) or at www.astm.org. For further technical information, contact Jim Craig, McElroy Manufacturing, Tulsa, Okla. (phone: 918/836-8611, ex. 0263; jcraig@mcelroy.com). Committee F17 will meet Nov. 14-16 at November Committee Week in Tampa, Fla. For membership or meeting information, contact Brynn Murphy, Technical Committee Operations, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9640; bmurphy@astm.org).
