Pipe Burst: When Will it Happen?

  • Thread starter Thread starter helpmitch
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Pipe
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the conditions leading to a pipe burst, focusing on the pressure differentials between the inside and outside of the pipe, the material failure points, and the implications of weight and support for a long vertical run of pipe. Participants explore theoretical and practical aspects of pipe stress and failure in the context of fluid dynamics and material properties.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether the pressure on the pipe is 25 psi or 1025 psi, depending on the pressure differential.
  • Another participant suggests considering hoop stress and compressive stress when evaluating the potential for pipe failure.
  • A participant expresses confusion about the difference between the burst psi rating of a pipe and the actual failure point of the material, seeking clarification on how to determine this for poly pipe.
  • Concerns are raised about the weight of the fluid inside the pipe and whether it needs to be accounted for in the tensile strength calculations.
  • One participant proposes that the stress distribution in the pipe may not be equivalent across different pressure scenarios, emphasizing the importance of considering the weight of the pipe and fluid.
  • Another participant notes that while the weight of the fluid may not significantly affect tensile strength if the pipe is open at the end, it is still important to stabilize the pipe run due to dynamic fluid forces.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the pressure differential is critical in assessing the risk of a pipe burst, but there are multiple competing views on how to account for various stresses and the implications of fluid weight. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the specific failure points and the best practices for evaluating pipe integrity.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include potential missing assumptions about the pipe's material properties, the specific conditions of use, and the definitions of failure points. The discussion does not resolve the mathematical steps necessary to fully analyze the stresses involved.

helpmitch
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I want to know when a pipe will burst i have attached a img wear the out side of the pipe has 1000 psi around it the inside should be let's say 25 pounds higher, does this mean i am putting 25 psi on it or 1025 psi. thanks for yalls help
 

Attachments

  • 1st.JPG
    1st.JPG
    9.7 KB · Views: 493
Engineering news on Phys.org
Your concern is in the difference in pressure.
 
Not an expert in the field, but I would consider the hoop stress with 25 psi (acting tangent to the pipe) added to the compressive stress with 1000 psi (acting radially). It seems to me that even if the pressure differential was 0, if the surrounding pressure is high enough, the material will deform and break just like putting dead weight on a flat surface.
 
Thanks for both of yalls help, if I understand jack action correctly the psi rating of the pipe is one thing but the pressure at which the material the pipe is made fails is another. I am looking into some poly pipe, how would I go about finding out this fail point for this product and is there a name for this fail point. It is confusing to me because there is a burst psi rating and that is what most people want to talk about I am just trying to educate myself before I talk to these pipe manufactures.

Also another concern I have is the tensile strength of the pipe I plan on running 1000 feet of the pipe straight down. The pipe weighs 1.38 per foot, the inside diameter of the pipe is 2.004, the weight of the fluid inside the pipe will be 9.0 ppg. The capacity of the 1000 foot of pipe would be 655.4 gallons. 655.4 x 9.0 ppg = 5898.6 lbs. Do I have to account for the weight of the fluid in the pipe?
 
The way I look at it, if you «unroll» the pipe lengthwise, you will end up with a rectangular flat piece with 1000 psi on one side and 1025 psi on the other. I can't believe that this is, stress-wise, the same as having, say, 100 psi on one side and 125 psi on the other.

If your pipe is suspended, like your drawing seems to show, the stress caused by the weight of the pipe will have to be considered if it is large enough. That stress will decrease as you go down the pipe length.

The weight of the fluid wouldn't be relevant, as your system seems to be vertical and the pipe has an open bottom end.
 
If you are worried about the pipe bursting, then, as Pkruse said, you are concerned with the difference in pressure between the inside and outside of the pipe in question.

As Jack_Action said, putting too much pressure on something will cause it to deform and probably fail. However, I doubt you'll find many applications where you will cause the structure of a pipe to fail due to high combined internal/external pressures, with low or null differential, over failing at fittings and the like.

As for your other concern, the fluid will not pull appreciably on the pipe for you to worry about tensile strength. However, you should certainly take care to stabilize the run of pipe. Fluids are dynamic, and you don't want to let a 1000 ft run of pipe go unsupported. You will, however, have to take the weight of the water into account for sizing supports, assuming there is an elbow or something which the weight of water will push against at the bottom of the 1000 foot run.

edit: if your pipe is open at the end, then the water weight will have virtually no effect on the tensile stress of the pipe. I wouldn't worry about that beyond sizing vertical supports.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Replies
10
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
9K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
4K
Replies
21
Views
12K
Replies
14
Views
4K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
2K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 26 ·
Replies
26
Views
5K
Replies
5
Views
4K