JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #88 - April 2014 - Special JEC Americas Spring Edition - 75

and a few cm in diameter, with a
simulated outer layer representing the
metal windings. This is then placed
into a pressure vessel to allow internal pressurization and measurement
of the permeation rate by measuring
volumes on the low-pressure side. The
ends of the pipe and its exterior need
to be sealed against the vessel in order
to create a pressurized environment,
but the fluid also needs to be pumped
through and the rate of escape monitored.

Fig. 2: Element's proprietary pressure cell with
sapphire window

artificially increasing from an operating temperature in increments and
correlating results with base levels to
extrapolate time.

Pressure testing
thermoplastic components
Following static testing of the thermoplastic material, the next stage is to
carry out the same tests on a smallscale representation of the component
itself. The expert team fashions a
sample pipe, for example 30cm long

To better understand the swelling of
a material under high pressure, new
approaches had to be developed. In
normal pressure testing of plastics,
high pressure is placed on a material
or component in an autoclave. However, when normalizing the pressure
and temperature to remove the sample
for visual and mechanical inspection,
it has cooled and contracted as some
of the gas within the specimen escapes
during the cooling process. Therefore,
the measurements of swelling taken
at this point are less than those taken
while under actual service conditions. To overcome this, displacement
transducers that can function under
high pressure and be deployed within
the testing equipment were utilized.
These provide real-time measure-

ments of swelling and were also used
for measuring extrusion.
The next stage is to move upwards to
full-scale testing where, for example, a
3m-long pipe would undergo the same
tests. As testing shifts towards larger
samples, less numbers or repeats
should be required, but the testing is
more challenging. Computer modelling may be used to accurately draw
data-based parallels between materials, small-scale and large-scale testing,
which not only allows the team to
check results for fidelity, but to confidently predict results for full-sized
components. n
More information:
www.element.com

About Element
Element is a global network of
laboratories with experts specializing
in materials testing, product qualification testing and failure analysis for
the Aerospace & Defense, Oil & Gas,
Power Generation, and Transportation
sectors.
Their team of 1,450 scientists,
engineers and technicians work in 41
laboratories located throughout the
U.S. and Europe.

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Tel. +32 56 48 38 88
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BLENDS

Our processes : pulling, garnetting precision cutting, short cutting & milling. (Also commission work)
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No88 April 2014

MASTERS IN TEXTILE RECYCLING

/ jec composites magazine 75

http://www.element.com http://www.procotex.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #88 - April 2014 - Special JEC Americas Spring Edition

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #88 - April 2014 - Special JEC Americas Spring Edition