Welcome to John’s Blog. Answers to frequently asked questions are periodically posted here. The objective is to share information about PVC pipe with readers as well as with utilities, design engineers and pipe installers. The blog provides the latest information on PVC pipe design, installation, and application for water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
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John Houle: Senior Technical Consultant, PVC Pipe Industry
John Houle holds a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri and an MBA from the University of Oregon. He has more than 25 years of experience in the plastic pipe industry in applications engineering, market development, forensic analysis, technical writing, and standards development.
The Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association promotes ductile iron as “stronger” than PVC. While it is true that side-by-side laboratory testing would give the nod to DI, laboratory strength does not always transfer to real life.
A case in point is surge pressures. Ductile iron has a higher tensile modulus of elasticity than PVC, which means that any surges generated in DI pipe will be higher than in PVC pipe. This tech brief uses the design example in the AWWA C900 PVC pipe standard to compare surges in DR18 PVC pipe and PC350 ductile iron pipe. As expected, the DI surges are much higher – so high that:
Conventional wisdom is turned on its head: “strength” is sometimes a disadvantage. Click here to read the Tech Brief.
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