A preliminary analysis of failures in grey cast iron water pipes

Most water utility engineers are familiar with the typical failure modes of grey cast iron pipes such as circumferential breaks and split bells. However, while researchers have examined the forces that are likely responsible for these failures, the failure mechanisms that link those forces with the observed failures have not been thoroughly investigated. Understanding these mechanisms is important for finding ways of detecting damaged pipes and preventing their ultimate failure. This paper presents a failure analysis of five different pipes that show four different failure modes. The analysis suggests that some of these failures occurred in at least two stages, raising the possibility that non-destructive testing could be used to detect pipes that are part way possibility through the failure process. Crown Copyright (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.