Civil engineering undergraduates learn about reinforced concrete through mixing, bending rebar, creating molds, pouring and finally testing concrete beams of two different sizes using CIEST's bending load frame equipped with a 110-kip actuator. Failure modes of bending moment and shear are observed. 

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Project Title: Testing and Analysis of Pipeline Encapsulation Technologies

Funding Agency: DOE/ARPA-E: Rapid Encapsulation of Pipelines Avoiding Intensive Replacement (REPAIR)

Lead: Â鶹ĘÓƵ

Partners: University of Southern Queensland, Cornell University, Gas Technology Institute

Industry Partners: Sanexen Environmental Services Inc., Insituform Technologies, Inc. 

Primary Investigator: Prof. Brad Wham; co-PIs:  Prof. Shideh Dashti, Prof. Mija Hubler

CIEST Personnel: Patrick Dixon, John Hindman, Davis Holt,  Cory Ihnotic, Katherine O'Dell, Kent Polkinghorne, Dustin Quandt, Yao Wang;  Graduate Researchers: Jacob Klingaman, Sina Senji, Molly Sickler, Deeptesh Pawaskar;  Undergraduate Researchers: Jonah Cook, William Flood, Coen Hines, Alyssa McCarthy, Ketan Kamat, Daniel Mascarenas, Samuel Mohnacs 

Year: 2020-2024

Project Summary: Cast iron, wrought iron, and bare steel natural gas distribution pipes—legacy pipes—make up 3% of the nearly 2 million miles of utility pipes in use, but account for a disproportionate number of gas leaks and pipe failures compared to more recently replaced infrastructure. REPAIR seeks to reduce natural gas leaks from these pipes by developing a suite of technologies to enable the automated construction of new pipe inside existing pipe. The new pipe must meet utilities’ and regulatory agencies’ requirements, have a minimum life of 50 years, and have sufficient material properties to operate throughout its service life without reliance on the exterior pipe. REPAIR will advance the state of gas distribution pipelines by incorporating smart functionality into structural coating materials and developing new integrity/inspection tools. It will also create three-dimensional (3D) maps that integrate natural gas pipelines and adjacent underground infrastructure geospatial information with integrity, leak, and coating deposition data. The cost target is $0.5-1 million per mile, including gas service disruption costs.

The CIEST lab at the Â鶹ĘÓƵ is leading a multi-institutional team, including Cornell University, Gas Technology Institute, and University of Southern Queensland, to develop a data-driven framework of laboratory testing and modeling. This framework will enable the gas industry to better evaluate products to rehabilitate cast iron and steel natural gas pipes and enhance their performance and longevity. The objective is to validate a 50-year design life for innovative internal replacement pipe (IRP) systems by developing numerical, analytical, and physical testing protocols. The process will merge attributes of each approach to deliver a comprehensive framework for IRP technologies composed of a variety of materials and deposition methods. CU Boulder’s framework characterizes failure modes and establishes performance criteria for IRP rehabilitation technologies to support recommendations for PIP material properties suitable for acceptable design-life performance.

View ARPA-E's program description .

Project Deliverables & Reports: 

IRP Analyzer Application:  (free download)

Test Report: Service Life Assessment of Internal Replacement Pipe: External Load Testing of ALTRA-10^TM  

Test Report: Service Life Assessment of Internal Replacement Pipe: External Load Testing of I-Main^TM 

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Project Title:  Seismic Evaluation of Hazard-Resistant Lifelines: Fusible PVC Pipe and Fittings

Industry Partners: Aegion Corportation - Underground Solutions Inc. 

CIEST Personnel: Cory Ihnotic,  Jessica Ramos, D.K Anderson, David Balcells

Primary Investigator: Prof. Brad Wham 

Year: 2021

Project Summary: The intent of this study is to impose external loading conditions to test specimens that are representative of the significant deformations possible during earthquake-induced ground motions such as landsliding, fault rupture, and liquefaction-induced lateral spreading, characterizing the pipeline system capacity. This testing program seeks to define the seismic response of fusible PVC (fPVC) pipeline systems with both fused connections and external couplings, illustrating procedures and best practices for conducting full-scale tests and interpreting laboratory results. Thirteen large-scale tests were performed on 6-in. diameter DR18 (PC235) fusible PVC pipe (C900) with three different connection types. Test specimens were subjected to tension, compression, cyclic, and four point bending tests, determining the ultimate load capacity for each system in both axial and transverse directions. 

Link to report: /center/ciest/sites/default/files/attached-files/240724_ciest-ugs_fusible_report_to_be_published.pdf

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