Failure Analysis of Plastic Pipe & Rubber Hoses

The transportation of liquids & gases from one point to another has become an integral part of our lives. Everyday we all use a hose or pipe either directly or indirectly. The water to our homes is provided by a network of pipes, the coolant of an engine is transported by a hose, the petrol we fill our cars with is delivered by a hose & the refrigerant gas in an AC unit is pumped via pipes.

To meet these diverse requirements a diverse range of plastic & rubber pipes & hose products have been developed to satisfy the demands of end users & industries that manufacture them. A shape & size exists for practically every application & if it doesn’t a manufacturer will quickly oblige with a bespoke hose or pipe, seal & gaskets. Not only are the sizes of pipes almost infinitely available from a 300mm water pipe to a 1mm tube for a medical application the choice of material is equally as broad.

With so many variables in hose & pipe design, materials to choose from, manufacturers to supply, & extreme environmental conditions to operate in product failure at a level has to be anticipated & expected.

The consequence of a rubber hose or plastic pipe failure can vary dramatically dependent on the final application & location. For gas pipes & petrol hoses, failure can be potentially catastrophic, resulting in explosion & potential loss of life. Other failures may result in significant financial loss due to flooding, chemical supply or break down in communication.

A pipe or hose location can dramatically add to the consequences. A ruptured pipe carrying oil on the sea bed has dramatic consequences not just financially but environmentally. A failure in a medical application could be life threatening.

At Smithers Rapra the rubber & plastic failure consultants based in the Consultancy Centre are client focused & understand the urgency of failure diagnosis & providing both a short & long term solution. The consultancy team is sensitive to the fact that pipe & hose failure is often a critical, costly event whatever the scenario requiring a prompt & accurate diagnosis.

The consultancy team has the benefit of a broad spectrum of experience from varied industries; there are specialists for most areas. All consultants have industry experience & have a fundamental understanding of pipe & hose design, testing & chemical analysis combined with a comprehensive understanding of polymer behaviour, performance & failure modes.

Supported by extensive microscopy, analytical & mechanical testing laboratories consultants are able to fully characterise polymer composition & mechanical performance, with the capability if required of recreating failure under laboratory conditions in order to fully understand the nature failure & provide remediate / corrective actions.

In certain hose or pipe failure situations understanding & ascertaining where responsibilities lies is vitally important. A failure could cost many thousands if not millions of dollars in lost revenue. If no party within the manufacturing, installation & end user chain is willing to admit responsibility for failure & its associated costs & damages an independent failure investigation provided by Smithers Rapra can be hugely beneficial when settling disputes. Members of the consultancy team have regularly provided expert witness testimony in court & have been accepted as experts on both sides of the Atlantic.

Further details on the mechanical & physical testing of hoses & tubes used within the consultancy centre can be found here.

Information on the chemical analysis utilised by consultants can be found here.

To enquire about a specific pipe or hose failure please contact us.