A fracture mechanics concept for the accelerated characterization of creep crack growth in PE-HD pipe grades

For the lifetime prediction of pressurized polyethylene (PE) pipes based on methods of the linear elastic fracture mechanics the knowledge of the crack resistance and the kinetics of creep crack growth (CCG) is essential. In the present work a rather brittle nonpipe material was used to develop a methodology for an accelerated measurement of crack kinetics in fatigue tests on cracked round bar (CRB) specimens at ambient temperatures of 23 °C. A material and specimen specific compliance calibration curve was generated to detect the crack kinetics with only one single CRB test. Based on an already proposed concept the kinetics at different R-ratios (minimum/maximum load) was measured and extrapolated to the case of CCG. To demonstrate the transferability of this concept to pipe materials a PE 80 pipe grade was used. Although the necessary testing time increased considerably the concept still has the potential to reduce the overall testing time for new pipe materials to be certified significantly. With the presented procedure a characterization of CCG in modern PE pipe grades at room temperature and without the use of stress cracking liquids is possible within a few months.