ASTM Standard covers HDPE compounds in plastic piping.
Press Release Summary:
ASTM WK39447, Specification for Metric Outside Diameter Polyethylene (PE) Plastic Pressure Pipe (DRPN), will cover premier high-density polyethylene compounds used in plastic piping systems worldwide. Standard establishes material and product requirements, and tests for verification of compliance. It will be limited to PE4710 that is hydrostatic design basis- and hydrostatic design stress-rated using ASTM procedures; and PE100 that is minimum required strength-rated using ISO procedures.
Original Press Release:
Premier High-Density Polyethylene Compounds in Plastic Piping To Be Covered in Proposed ASTM Standard
A proposed new ASTM International standard, ASTM WK39447, Specification for Metric Outside Diameter Polyethylene (PE) Plastic Pressure Pipe (DRPN), will cover premier high-density polyethylene compounds used in a variety of plastic piping systems throughout the world.
“The proposed standard establishes material and product requirements, and tests for verification of compliance,” says ASTM member William Adams, an independent consultant. “Manufacturers are required to have a written quality assurance program that controls manufacture and compliance verification. A mandatory annex in WK39477 assures joining compatibility with fittings and pipeline appurtenances.”
According to Adams, ASTM WK39477 will be limited to covering only high-density polyethylene compounds that are both:
• PE4710 that is hydrostatic design basis (HDB)-and hydrostatic design stress (HDS)-rated using ASTM procedures; and
• PE100 that is minimum required strength (MRS)-rated using International Organization for Standardization (ISO) procedures.
“The resulting metric-sized PE4710/PE100 pipes have unsurpassed performance capabilities for the pressure or nonpressure transport of liquid, gaseous or multiphase fluid media,” says Adams. The ASTM and ISO procedures are both used in different regions of the world. ASTM WK39477 will provide HDPE pipe that complies with both stress-rating preferences.
According to Adams, both industrialized and developing nations can use the HDPE piping described in ASTM WK39477 for the following purposes:
• Municipal and private water and waste systems;
• Safe long-lasting power and energy production (hydroelectric, gas, coal, oil);
• Safely transporting pure fluids and protecting them from environmental contamination in industrial and mining settings; and
• Protecting the environment by safely transporting hazardous fluids.
Primary users of ASTM WK39477, once it has been approved, will be specifiers, manufacturers, private and municipal designers and engineers, and federal, state and local authorities. Finally, Adams notes, the proposed standard will provide guidance for temperature and environmental effects that will assist designers.
WK39447 is being developed by Subcommittee F17.26 on Olefin Based Pipe, part of ASTM International Committee F17 on Plastic Piping Systems. All interested parties are invited to assist in the development of WK39447 and other F17 standards. ASTM International welcomes participation in the development of its standards. For more information on becoming an ASTM member, visit www.astm.org/JOIN.
For more news in this sector, visit www.astm.org/sn-construction or follow us on Twitter @ASTMBuildings.
Technical Contact: William Adams, WSS Consulting, Terre Haute, Ind., Phone: 812-236-7791; wiia4676@gmail.com
ASTM Staff Contact: Robert Morgan, Phone: 610-832-9732; rmorgan@astm.org
ASTM PR Contact: Barbara Schindler, Phone: 610-832-9603; bschindl@astm.org
