9/1/2015

TheperplexityofPVCfittingfailures

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TheperplexityofPVCfittingfailures
JohnRiordan
ManygolfcoursesuperintendentsresignthemselvestorepairingbrokenPVCpipefittings.
Somehavehumorouslysuggestedthatthetaskprovidesbuiltinjobsecurity.Butthe
problemisreallynolaughingmatter.Thedamageandcostofrepairaregenerally
proportionaltothesizeofthefitting.Sowhiletherepairofsmallerfittingsisusuallyonlya
nuisance,thefailureoflargerfittingscanbequitedisruptive.Lackofsystematicreporting,
especiallyafterthetypical1yearwarrantyends,hasmaskedthemagnitudeoftheproblem.
PVC'slittleknownsusceptibilitiesThesuperioreconomicsofPVCpipeandfittingshave
madeirrigationsystemsavailablewheretheypreviouslywouldnothavebeenfeasible.
SteelpipethepredecessortoPVCwaslimitedbyitsexpenseandsusceptibilityto
corrosion.PVCpipesolvedtheseproblems,besidesbeingeasiertoinstall.
AlthoughPVCpipehasbeenquitereliable,PVCfittingscanbemoresensitivetothe
circumstancesofuseandinstallation.Forinstance,moderngolfcourseirrigationsystems
operateatrelativelyhighpressuresandhavelargeandfrequentsurgepressures(water
hammer).AlthoughPVCpipeiswellsuitedtoaccommodatewaterhammer,PVCfittings
havenotalwaysbeenuptothetask.
Selectinganeffectivefittingrepairrequiresanunderstandingofthecauseoffailure.Thisis
notalwaysstraightforwardwithPVCfittings.SimplyreplacingafailedPVCfittingwithout
addressingtheunderlyingcausemayonlyresultintheeventualneedforanotherrepair.The
firststepindiagnosingtheproblem,then,istounderstandasmuchaspossibleaboutthe
failureandanycontributingfactors.Doingsorequiresasystematicapproachthataccounts
forallvariables,aswellasknowledgeofthebehaviorofthesystemsinquestion.
First,plasticpipefittingsdonotbearloadsinthesamewaythatmetalfittingsdo.Whena
metalfittingexperiencesaload,iteithersuccessfullybearstheloadoritfails.Aplastic
fittingisdifferent.Itmaysuccessfullybeartheloadatthemomentofinitialapplicationbut,
overtime,itwillfailascracksinitiateandslowlygrow.Afailure,then,cantakeyearsto
happen.ThisiswhyPVCburstpressureratingsandworkingpressureratingsareso
different.Itisthistimedelayeffectthatmakesdiagnosingplasticfittingfailuresdifficult.
Inaddition,thegeometryofapipefittingcausesconcentrationsofhighstressinthecrotch
ofTsandbendsthatarenotpresentinstraightpipe.Beingaplastic,PVCisinsussceptible
tothefatigueloadingofwaterhammerintheseareasofhighstress.Injectionmolded
fittingsalsoaretypicallymadewithplasticcompoundsthathavesomewhatlower
molecularweightthanthatusedforthepipeitself.Asaresultofthesegeometricand
materialcharacteristics,PVCfittingshaveinherentlylowerfatiguestrengththanPVCpipe
eventhoughtheyarecapableofasimilarburststrength.PVCfittingsalsoareunforgiving
ofmechanicalloadsforthesamereasons.Thehighstressyieldingthatoccursinthecrotch
servesasasiteforacracktostartthatcaneventuallypropagatetofailureundersustained
loading.Thisisunlikemetals,whichgenerallyhavemuchhigherfatiguestrengthandthe
abilitytoyieldlocallyandredistributestressconcentrationsincrotchesinabeneficialway.
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Despitethetimedelayeffect,thetimingofafailurecanyieldcluestoitscause.Failures
generallyfallintothreecategories.Thefirstcategoryisinitialstartup.Thesecondcategory
isspringstartup.Thethirdandperhapsmostaggravatingcategoryisfailuresduringroutine
operation.Failuresduringroutineoperationcanbemuchmoredifficulttodiagnosebecause
thecausesmaylieininstallationerrorsoroperationalabusesmademanyyearsbefore.
DiagnosingfailuresuponstartupFailuresduringstartupgenerallyresultfrominstallation
errorsormanufacturingdefects.Lessoften,theyarefromdesignerrorsifperformedbya
trainedirrigationdesigner.Designerrorsusuallymanifestthemselvesinthelongerterm.
Takecareaboutbeingoverlypriceconsciousduringthedesign,contractingand
constructionphasesofyourirrigationinstallation.Doingsocanresultinthetemptationto
cutcorners.
Failuresatstartuparecausedbyforcesthatexceedtheshorttermstrengthofthefitting.
Althoughmanufacturingdefectscanoccuraswithanymanufacturedproductitpaysto
lookbeyondthatalltooeasyanswer.Unfortunately,thefailurescausedbypoorinstallation
practicesoftendonothappenuntilmuchlater,whenthecauseislessobvious.
Oneofthemostcommon"installationerrors"thatcausefailuresisthepresenceof
entrappedairduringinitialstartup.Entrappedaircanresultinpressuresurgesseveraltimes
greaterthanaPVCfitting'scapabilities.Thispressuresurgeresultsinbrokenfittingsor
thrustblockfailures.Inthecaseofsolventweldfittings,pressuresurgescancausefractures
topropagateintoadjoiningpipe.Therefore,itisessentialtoremoveairfromthesystemina
waythatdoesn'tcausesurges.Evenifsurgesdonotcauseanimmediatebreak,theywill
significantlyreducethefitting'slife.
Failuredetectionduringspringstartup
Springisatimewhenentrappedairisagainlikelytobeaproblem.Thisproblemrelatesto
thefactthataccumulatedfatiguedamageduetowaterhammerasmentionedpreviously
effectivelyreducestheburststrengthofthefitting.Thus,fittingsthatfunctionedfinewhen
youdrainedthesystemsuddenlybreakinthespring.Toavoidthis"lesson,"youshould
withadisciplineapproachingareligionperformairventingprocedureseveryspringbefore
startup.
Gluedjointfailuresareanothercommoncauseofbreaksduringspringstartup.Although
solventweldingisnotanidealjoiningmethodforburiedpiping,manystilluseitforpipe
sizessmallerthan3inchesindiameterwhenshorttermcostconsiderationsdominatethe
contractingprocess.Solventweldjointsdonotpermitthepipetobreathewhenit
experiencestemperaturechanges,groundmotionorsettling.Asaresult,thestress
concentrationsinthefitting'sbody,orinthegluejointitself,canresultinapremature
failurewhenaddedtothepressureforces.Inanefforttoreducesomeofthesestresses,most
solventweldfittingmanufacturersrecommendyouusepouredinplaceconcretethrust
blocks,justasyouwoulduseforgasketedjointfittings.
ThreadedPVCjointsareanothercommonsourceoffailureand,likesolventweldjoints,
arenotoriouslysusceptibletoinstallationerrors.Threadedjointsareeasilyovertorqued.
Youareluckyifyouovertorquethejointenoughtocauseanimmediatefailure.More
likely,yourfittingwillfaillater,afteryou'vepressurizedthesystemandafterhighstress
eventuallycausesacracktoinitiateandpropagate.Undernocircumstances,then,should
yousubjectthreadedPVCjointstoloadscausedbydeflectingtheadjacentpipeorfitting.
Likesolventweldjoints,makethreadedjointsinstrictaccordancewiththemanufacturer's
instructions.Femaleplasticthreadsonmalemetalthreadsarethemostvulnerabletoover
torqueing,soavoidthemifpossible.
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Inadequatethrustblockingalsocanleadtoprematurefailure.Duringstartup,thrustblocks
thataretoosmallforthesoil'sbearingstrengthwillmove.Ifthismovementislarge
enough,thepipecanblowoffthegasketedfittings.Ifthethrustblockdisplacementisless,
mechanicalloadsfrompipedeflectioninthefitting'sbellsorsocketswillresult.These
loadscanresultinimmediatefailureorcanoccurlaterastheresultingcracksdevelopand
propagatemoreslowly.Splits,whichappeartooriginateintheendofthefitting'sbellsor
sockets,oftencharacterizethesefailures.Asmentionedpreviously,youshouldthrustblock
allburiedPVCfittingswhethergasketedorsolventwelded.Often,installersdon'tblock
smallerdiametersolventweldfittings.Doingsoisnotaconservativepractice.Always
properlysizethrustblocksandusepouredinplaceconcrete,fullyembracingthefittingand
extendingtoundisturbedsoil.Donotusecinderblocks,bricks,rocksorboardsasthrust
blocks.Doingsoalwayswillresultintheapplicationofmechanicalloadsthatwillreduce
thelifeofthefitting.
Anothercauseofprematurefittingfailureisdeflectingthepipeinthefittingbellorsocket
duringinstallationtotryandmakeaturn.Whilethisisanacceptablepracticewithductile
ironfittings,youshouldneverdosowithPVCfittings.Failuremaynotnecessarilyoccur
onstartup.(Again,itdependsonthemagnitudeofthedeflectioninducedstresses.)
Nevertheless,oncethefailureoccurs,itusuallylookslikeonethatresultsfromadisplaced
thrustblock,asdescribedpreviously.Pipemanufacturersdotypicallyallowsome
deflectionoftheirpipetoallowyoutomaketurns.Butyoushouldnevermaketheseturns
inanywaythatforcesmechanicalloadsonPVCfittings.Forexample,usinganarrow
trenchoftencanleadtosuchloads.Atabend,theintersectingnarrowtrenchesarenotwide
enoughtoallowthefittingtopreciselysitintheturn.Evenso,installersforcethepipeand
fittingintothetrench.Thetrenchwallsthenserveasaformtoforcedeflectionofthepipe
intothefitting,thusimposingtheoffendingloads.
Themostdifficultfailurestospot:DuringroutineoperationElevatedtemperaturescan
causefittingfailuresduringroutineoperation.Fittingscanbeexposedtoelevated
temperatureseitherfromthewatertheycarryorfromthesurroundingsoilwhenburialis
shallowinhotlocales.Thiscanleadtoreductionsinburststrength,longtermpressure
strengthandfatiguestrength.Thedamagedoneduringlimitedhightemperatureoperation
maynotleadtoanimmediatefailure.It,instead,mayleadtoaprematurefailureatsome
distanttimeasthefittingexperiencesmoreservice.Thismakesitdifficulttodeterminethe
truecause,aswellastoimplementtheproperrepair.Failuresfromthiscausedon'tleave
obviousevidence.
Thoughunlikely,itisconceivablethatfittingscanbeexposedtotemperaturesashighas80
degreesFto90degreesF.InregularPVCpipe,thiswouldcauseaderatingof12to25
percentfroma73degreesFrating.Nopublisheddataisavailablethatquantifiestheeffect
ofthisonfittingstrength,althoughmostauthoritiespresumeafittingwillbehavesimilarly
toapipe.GiventhestressconcentrationeffectsinthecrotchesofbendsandTs,itis
possible,however,thatthederatingmightbesomewhathigherforfittings.Infact,theeffect
onfatiguestrengthisprobablymoreexaggerated.Inpractice,then,youcanassumethe
effectivederatingismuchlarger.Thisisbecausethesystemusuallyoperatesatcooler
temperatures,intherangeof45degreesFto55degreesF,wherecomponentshavehigher
thanratedstrength.Insolventweldpiping,thermalexpansionincreasesthegeneralstateof
stressinpipeandfittings,whichwouldberelievedinagasketedsystem.
Knowledgeofthetemperaturestowhichyoursystemisexposed,then,isuseful
information.Ifyoudon'taccountforelevatedtemperaturesinthedesignphase,thenyour
onlymeansofoffsettinghightemperatureeffectsistooperateyourirrigationsystemina
morebenignwayduringsuchperiods.Ofcourse,thisispreciselywhenyouarelikelytobe
temptedtooperateyoursystemmoreaggressively.
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Inthissituation,repairingafailureusingthesamefittingprobablywillleadtoanother
failureifyoumakenochangesinoperation.Theobvioussolution,ofcourse,istochangeto
amoretemperatureresistantmaterial,suchasductileiron.
Aspecialwordneedstobesaidhereonwaterhammer.Thebenefitsofautomatic
controllersandvalveinheadsprinklerscomewiththepriceofwaterhammer.Whilewater
hammerdoesnotadverselyaffectmostsystemcomponents,itcandestroyPVCfittings
overtime.Diagnosingafatiguefailurefromwaterhammercanbequitesimple.Breakopen
thefittingsothatyourevealthefracturesurface.Ifyouseeconcentrictreeringlike
structures,thenthefailurewascausedbywaterhammerinducedfatigue.However,the
absenceofsuchafeaturedoesnotnecessarilymeanthefailurewasnotfromfatigue.
Ifitisafatiguefailure,youcanbesurethatrepairingwithanotherPVCfittingwillleadto
anotherfailure.Ifthematerialsareavailable,itisbesttorepairsuchafailurewithaductile
ironfitting.
PVCfittingfailuresareexpensiveandfrustrating.Unfortunately,manyinstallersplantthe
seedsoflongtermfailuresduringinstallation,andhydrotestingdoesnotrevealthesefaults.
Evenamanufacturer'stypical1yearwarrantygenerallyadequatetodetectmanufacturing
defectscanbewoefullyinadequateinprotectingyoufromdesignorinstallationerrors.The
keystomaximumperformanceofyourirrigationsystem,then,istooperatethesystem
withintheprescribedparameters,monitorfailurepatternstoaidindiagnosisandtakethe
timetounderstandtherootcauseoffailuressoyoucanmakearepairforthelasttime.
Doingsowillenhancetheperformanceandreputationofyourorganizationandyour
course.
JohnRiordanisproductmanagerwiththeHarringtonCorp.(Lynchburg,Va.).

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