Impact of Millimeter-Size Silicon Microchips on the Mechanical Properties of Polymer Samples Tested under Flexural Bending, Long-Term Creep, and Impact Conditions
Publication: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 4, Issue 2
Abstract
One way to continuously monitor the whole water distribution system is to equip pipes with many small sensors. If these sensors are to be integrated within the pipe walls, it is important to assess their impact on the structural integrity of the pipes, but embedding pipes with these microchips for testing would allow limited control of the position and orientation of the microchips. Therefore, microchips of a few millimeters in size and different shapes were embedded within small-scale polyethylene samples. Pipes are subject to a range of different stresses during their lifetime including hoop, bending, and potentially local impact stresses, and long-term creep effects. This paper focuses on the bending, flexural creep, and impact stresses, with some examples from the tensile tests also presented. The key findings are that there is little effect of the microchips on the 50-year flexural moduli and the short-term flexural properties of the polymer, although there was a significant improvement in the toughness and a reduction in the tensile strength.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Exova (Manchester, UK) for the support in carrying out some of the tests.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 4 • Issue 2 • May 2013
Pages: 115 - 123
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 20, 2012
Accepted: Aug 9, 2012
Published online: Aug 23, 2012
Published in print: May 1, 2013
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