Polyethylene Pressure Pipe

ASTM International Committee F17 on Plastic Piping Systems is currently working on a series of proposed new standards for polyethylene pipe fittings. The proposed standards will enable pipeline and piping project development using uniform fittings dimensions from every fabricator.

"Today the consulting and engineering community uses 3-D modeling to develop and check project piping," says Harvey Svetlik, director of engineering and quality assurance systems, Independent Pipe Products, and an F17 member. "Computer modeling demands uniform fabricated fittings made to the same dimensions by all fabricators offering a consistent pressure rating. Implementation of these standards, once they've been approved, will provide the owners and engineers with greater acceptance and confidence in polyethylene fabricated fittings for piping and pipeline systems."

The proposed standards, under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee F17.10 on Fittings, are as follows:

  • WK35772, Specification for Miter-Bends (Elbows) Fabricated by Heat Fusion Joining Polyethylene Pressure Pipe Segments Using Nominal Pipe Sizes 2 Inch to 65 Inch;
  • WK35773, Specification for Polyethylene Reducing Tee Massive Base Branch Saddles (MBBS) for Outlet Diameters in Nominal Pipe Sizes 2 Inch to 36 Inch, for Sidewall Heat-Fusion to Polyethylene Pipe Mains;
  • WK35774, Specification for Mechanical Joint (MJ) Adapters for Polyethylene Pressure Pipe in Nominal Pipe Sizes (NPS) 2 Inch to 60 Inch (63 mm to 1524 mm);
  • WK35775, Specification for End Caps for Polyethylene Pressure Pipe in Nominal Pipe Sizes (NPS) 2 Inch to 54 Inch (63 mm to 1372 mm);
  • WK35777, Specification for Equal Outlet Pipe Tees Fabricated by Heat Fusion Joining Polyethylene Pressure Pipe Segments of Nominal Pipe Sizes (NPS) 2 Inch to 65 Inch (63 mm to 1651 mm); and
  • WK35779, Specification for Pipe WYES Fabricated by Heat-Fusion Joining Mitered Polyethylene Pressure Pipe Segments of Nominal Pipe Sizes (NPS) 2 Inch to 65 Inch, Using Flat Heater Plates.

Interested parties are welcome to join F17.10. Svetlik says that experienced engineers with pressure vessel design and FEA modeling background on non-linear viscoelastic materials who can contribute computational resources are particularly encouraged to join in the development of the proposed F17.10 standards.

CONTACT Technical Information: Harvey Svetlik, Independent Pipe Products • Dallas, Texas • Phone: 800-499-6927 • Email: hsvetlik@indpipe.net O ASTM Staff: Robert Morgan • Phone: 610-832-9732 • Email: rmorgan@astm.org O Upcoming Meeting: April 16-18 • April Committee Week • Phoenix, Ariz.

Industry Sectors

Issue Month
March/April
Issue Year
2012