For more than 20 years, Krah pipes come with a possible integrated electro-fusion joint. This technology is used very successfully worldwide.
The idea was to supply a pipe with socket and spigot (known from the concrete pipes) and at the same time to use the advantage of the Polyethylene material – the possibility of welding. In the old days, Polyethylene pipes were mainly jointed by butt-fusion, this technology came with high costs of jointing equipment and a good training before jointing. The butt-fusion was mainly designed for pressure pipes and solid wall pipe structures. The integrated electro- fusion joint was designed to be used by a regular construction worker at the construction site. The joint should provide a tough, rough system and the tolerances of the pipes (especial the large ones) should be taken. The pipe tolerances of the spigot and socket should be big enough for easily inserting the spigot in the socket and narrow enough to provide a good fusion surface. Further it was important that the stiffness of the joint is high enough. The integrated Krah electro-fusion will provide the possibility to joint structured wall pipes by using an easy fusion method, to create a pipe joint resistant against
• Low working pressure
• In- and exfiltration
• Root penetration
• A shorter lifetime than the rest of the
pipeline
Other big advantages are:
- Can be jointed in the trench
- Several joints can be done at the same time (super quick installation)
- No extensive training is needed
- Jointing quality is not depending on the mood of the jointer (barcode- controlled)
- One type of electro-fusion box can be used for all sizes (cost reduction)
- The electro-fusion-box can operate with 230 V AC
To make a good fusion/welding of Polyethylene (and Polypropylene) you mainly need:
- The right temperature for the material
- The right melting/welding time
- The right welding/fusion pressure
This is a triangle -party where each factor can be substituting the others, but only in a very limited way. In the butt-fusion technology or the extrusion welding procedure, the three factors are easy to determine, but with the integrated electro-fusion joint it is not too easy where and what the welding/fusion pressure is applied.
By the way: Fusion is a special variant of welding. While doing the standard welding procedure an additional welding material will be added, while in the fusion process the existing components will be heated up and they will melt together into a homogenous part. Questions many clients have had and their answers:
Why is the electrofusion joint integrated in the pipe?
No extra fitting is needed, basically the risk of a failure is reduced by 50 %, because one part is integrated in the component. A component can be a pipe, a fitting or a manhole. The risk of a wrong insertion of the spigot into the socket is not so high, because there is a physical lock at the end.
Why is the oxidation surface not scrapped of the spigot before fusion?
During the pipe production, the oxidation surface is grinded, and then covered by a film, to protect the spigot. Usually also the socket is protected against dirt by a film.
Why has the Krah wire its specific meander-form?
The main reason is to handle the tolerance issues of the large pipes, because this meander form has a spring behaviour. Another advantage is that the risk of a short circuit is minimized.
On the photo above you can see, that the spring effect of the wire is able to support a changing of the diameter/circumference, due to applied forces and temperature changes, without having any negative (tightness) effects.
How is the fusion pressure built up?
The build-up pressure for the fusion is caused by the thermal expansion of the material during the fusion process. For PE, this is around 30 percent (Capt, L. and Kamal, M.R., 2000)1. The volume will increase from 1,05 cm³/g to approx. 1,35 cm³/g.
After the melted material filled the remaining little gaps (e.g. between the not embedded wire) the building of fusion pressure is starting. The created fusion pressure is approx. 100 bar according to the diagram. The limit is reached, when the mechanical locking of the ends is not strong enough anymore to keep the pressure inside. It is important that not too much material is able to move out of the fusion area (otherwise no / low pressure).
What is the purpose of the tensile band and the tension ring, while fusion?
We learned already on the point before, that the pressure is applied by the volume expansion of the material, so the purpose of the two elements is:
• Closing the gap between socket and spigot before fusion. Here we use the Chilang procedure (basically we talk about the slow adjusting of the inner ring, so the spigot is able to creep/ expand)
• Locking the ends of the welding area
(where the material is not melted), so the material can´t move away (like
in butt-welding) – so a kind of a
melting pocket will be produced.
The two elements or better two tools are:
A tensile chain with a wrench from the outside, this tool is compressing the socket (FC), it will be mainly adjusted during the fusion procedure.
The tensile chain also helps to reduce/limit the possibility that the socket-diameters expands. The position of the chain is on the outer side of the welding area. An inside tension ring (is not only a support ring), with screws from the inside, this tool is expanding (FE) the spigot, it will be mainly adjusted before the fusion/welding procedure. The position of this tool is close the visible jointing gap of the pipes
Why is the electrofusion wire not embedded and held by anchors?
The not embedded wire has the advantage that both sides (the surface of the socket and spigot) are heated up equally and the heat is distributed in both ways in the same way. The main reason of using anchors was for it to keep the wire on the right position when the material is melted around, and the slightly conical socket/spigot design and the applied pressure is designed to secure the wire in place. Thus, the end of the anchor is in the “not melted” area of the joint.
Extensive test have shown that the material is melted approx. 6 mm around the wire.
Why are there no welding seams visible inside and outside of the pipe?
Compared to the butt-fusion process, the melted material can not be pressed out of the fusion area, and don´t need to be cut off later, to keep the hydraulic capacity of the pipe.
Only little melt could be seen in the outside gap of the socket, it is a sign that the fusion pressure was even higher than the locking pressure and also the temperature/viscosity was ok (melted).
How can the fusion quality be checked and reported?
Quality control can and should happen in several ways:
- Visual check of the jointing
- Automated generated fusion report produced by the electro-fusion box. Here the main value is the used Energy (Photo of a test result above)Using a pneumatic jointing test machine - this test can only check the tightness and can not replace the total working pressure test..
- Filling the pipeline with water or air (and apply the needed testing pressure), according to EN1610.
What is the largest diameter of a pipe, where integrated electro-fusion has been used?
Until today, the largest pipeline, I saw jointed was DN/ID3500, the total length was 1 km, with many manholes – also jointed by the integrated electro-fusion joint.
What is the time for the fusion?
The electrofusion time is depending on the pipe diameter and the number of wire-strings are used.
Here is a table with the standard value, for selected diameters. These parameters are determined with a PE 100 Material from basell or Borealis. Should a different material may be used, the parameters are to adapt. Depending on the outside temperature, a pre-heating period can be added.
*These parameters are interpolated and must be tested before they are used on the site.
After the successful fusion time, a cooling downtime of approx. 30-45 minutes, according to outside temperature, should be taken before moving the last jointed pipe or backfilling.
How are pipe tolerances handled in large sizes?
The big advantages of flexible pipe system made of a thermoplastic material like Polyethylene is a disadvantage in tolerances.
Possible existing ovality, can be pressed round again (Chillang-procedure)
Possible existing gaps, can be eliminated by expansion of the spigot and compression of the socket (Chillang procedure)
The pipe spigot can/is machined to match the socket geometry.
How is the stiffness defined for the electro-fusion joint?
The stiffness of the socket/spigot combination should have minimum the same stiffness than the pipe.
Clamped beam, and stiffness of the welded socket/spigot end construction and reference to standard.
What is the maximum pressure the Krah integrated electro-fusion can take?
Basically, the integrated Krah electro-fusion joint is designed for “low pressure” only. But what does “low pressure” mean? The answer is not that easy but can be calculated. Basically, the answer is depending on the pipe diameter and the water-way wall thickness (needed to resist a certain working- pressure). If you know the solid wall thickness of this, you can divide it by two (because the stress in axial direction is 50% of the stress in radial direction), e.g. the solid waterway wall needed for a specific pipe is 50 mm. The length of the integrated electrofusion joint welded is 60mm * Krah-Safety reduction factor of 0,8 – the useable length is 48 mm.
The usable length 48 mm is large than the needed length of 25 mm (50 mm / 2 mm) -> the electro fusion joint will handle the working pressure. (but the socket and spigot wall-thicknesses should be accordingly). Another positive aspect is that the outside surface of Krah pipes are not smooth, so – the pipe is a kind of anchored in the ground/soil – which will reduce the axial stress in the joint.
Can Polypropylene be welded with the same procedure like Polyethylene?
Basically yes, but the “welding window” is smaller than with Polyethylene, also the thermal expansion of the material is not so high (so less fusion pressure is built up). The viscosity of polypropylene is also lower than polyethylene, which will make a proper fusion more difficult. But clearly, we prefer to use Polyethylene instead of Polypropylene.
Hoping the insides of the integrated electro-fusion joint is clearer, in case you have any additional question – do not hesitate to contact us.
Dr. Alexander Krah / CEO Krah GmbH
1) Capt, L. and Kamal, M.R.: The pressure-volume-temperature behaviour Polyethylene melts, 2000; Intern. Polymer processing XV, Hanser Publishers, Munich.