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C. Schoberleitner, V. Archodoulaki, T. Koch, S. Lüftl, G. Kuschnig, M. Werderitsch:
"Evaluation of polymer based sealing materials for socket rehabilitation";
Poster: Polymeric Materials 2012, Halle (Saale); 2012-09-12 - 2012-09-14; in: "Polymeric Materials 2012", (2012), 7 pages.

The research project "Developing Water Loss Prevention" (DeWaLoP) deals with the rehabilitation of leaky pipe connections of pressure operating grey cast iron pipes in order to reduce water losses. The aim is to develop a robot and a sealing system to repair the joint sockets only. Seven commercial and from companies proposed sealing materials of different chemical composition and with a broad spectrum of mechanical and physical properties were tested for their suitability. Different testing methods are used to determine the performance of the sealing materials, e.g. tensile test, adhesion tests, dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetry and pressure test. Regarding to the results a change of mechanical and physical properties after water exposure can be observed. Furthermore, the surface preparation affects the materials adhesion properties. The pressure tests demonstrate that the epoxy materials withstand a pressure of 1 MPa. The high stiffness of these materials excludes the possibility to compensate pipe movements. So, a matched material formulation with proper elasticity shall be developed. As there is hardly any experience in this field of application the testing of socket rehabilitation material is a very essential point. A comprehensive characterisation of socket rehabilitation is succeeded and several critical points of the defined requirements are clarified.

grey cast iron, material properties, pipe rehabilitation, sealing material