Establishing a design procedure for buried steel-reinforced high density polyethylene (SRHDPE) pipes : [technical summary].

PDFTech ReportK-TRAN: KU-11-6Steel pipeEthylene resinsCorrosion resistant materialsStiffnessBucklingCreepLaboratory testsPlastic pipeCulvertsReinforcement (Engineering)KansasKansas. Dept. of TransportationKhatri, Deep KumarHan, JieCorey, RyanParsons, Robert L.University of KansasUS Transportation CollectionMetal and plastic pipes have been used extensively as storm sewers and buried drainage structures in transportation projects. Metal pipes have high strength and stiffness but are susceptible to corrosion from wastewaters containing acid, and from aggressive soils. Plastic pipes are resistant to corrosion, erosion, and biological attack but have certain disadvantages including lower long-term strength and stiffness (dimensional reliability), buckling, and tearing of pipe wall. To address the disadvantages of metal and plastic pipes, a new product, steel-reinforced high-density polyethylene (SRHDPE) pipe, has been developed and introduced to the market, which has high-strength steel reinforcing ribs wound helically and covered by corrosion-resistant high density polyethylene (HDPE) resin inside and outside. The steel reinforcement adds ring stiffness to the pipe to maintain the cross-section shape during installation and to support overburden stresses and traffic loading. The HDPE resin protects the steel against corrosion and provides a smooth inner wall. The combination of steel and plastic materials results in a strong and durable material with a smooth inner wall. Different methods are available for the design of metal and plastic pipes. The American Water Works Association (AWWA) Manual M11 (2004) provided the design procedure for metal pipes and the 2007 ASSHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications had separate design procedures for metal and plastic pipes. However, it is not clear whether any of these procedures for metal and plastic pipes can be used to design an SRHDPE pipe. Moreover, no approved installation or design specification is available specifically for the SRHDPE pipes