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 

Off

Project Title: Evaluation of Gate Valve Flanges: Serrated vs Non-Serrated Under External Loading

Industry Partners: Denver Water

CIEST Personnel: Cory Ihnotic and Jessica Ramos

Primary Investigator: Prof. Brad Wham

Year: 2024

The intent of this study is to investigate the difference between a serrated faced flange connection and a non-serrated faced flange connection; mainly to determine whether one would leak sooner than the other. To evaluate this, a series of four-point bending tests with applied axial load were conducted on Mueller Resilient Wedge Gate Valves. The tested specimens were commercially available 6 in. (150 mm) diameter ductile iron pipe conforming to AWWA C600 standards, which were provided by Denver Water. Each type of flange connection (serrated or non-serrated) received two tests, each with displacement applied at a rate of 1 in. (25 mm) per minute. For the conducted tests, several points of interest were located including the site of the first and second leaks, and their respective leak rates to determine which of the connections had a more substantial failure.

Appreciation is extended to John Daly and Katie Ross, along with all our pipe and coupling manufacturers, for their tremendous support.

Testing Report 

Link to testing report: /center/ciest/sites/default/files/2025-03/240820%20DW-Serrated%20vs%20Nonserrated__Final%20Draft_v2.pdf

Off

Project Title: Hoop Tensile Test

Industry Partner: PSI Lab

CIEST Personnel Participants: John Hindman

Year: 2022

Project Summary:

The CIEST Laboratory successfully completed testing pipe liner samples for “apparent hoop tensile strength” as described in ASTM D2290. The method uses a split disk to apply tensile forces to a hoop or ring specimen cut from a pipe. Like a standard tensile test specimen, the hoop specimen also has an area of reduced width so that the failure should occur in a desired location. Load is applied at a constant rate of travel until a break occurs. The strength of the specimen is calculated based on the force at break and the cross-sectional area of the reduced area.

The test was performed on one of the CIEST Laboratory’s hydraulic-actuated test frames. We were glad to be able to perform these tests for an independent commercial laboratory. The size and strength of the particular samples tested required the use of a larger test machine, which we were able to provide. 

Off

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

Off

Full Project Title: Axial Capacity of C900 PVC Pipe with Reinforced Gasketed Joints

Year: 2019-20

Industry Partner: Denver Water

CIEST Personnel: Jessica Ramos, John Hindman, Brice Lucero, David Ballcells, Hayley Parnell, and Porter Hawkins

Primary Investigator: Prof. Brad Wham

Summary: The objective of this study was to impose externally applied axial loading to reinforced gasketed water pipeline joints to establish upper bound performance under worst case conditions of ground movement.  Test protocols included axial tension and cyclic (progressive tension and compression) loading on bell-spigot style C900 PVC pipe to simulate deformations possible during natural hazards such as earthquakes and landslides . The test specimens consisted of either RieberLok Gasketed or Diamond Lok-21 pipe with a restraining ring. Tests provided measures of axial displacement capacity, pipeline connection strength, and failure mechanism. The results indicated these systems as potentially viable solutions for regions prone to persistent soil movement and settlement. Tests were conducted in partnership with Denver Water.

Failed specimen after testing in tension.

View the full report here.

Off

Full Title:

Year: 2017-21

Participants: Mohammad Matar, Shane Frazier, Jorge Osio-Norgaard, Anastasia Aday, Nathan Deanda, El Delesky

Primary Investigator: Wil Srubar III

Summary: In this study the effects of biomimetic antifreeze polymers were investigated for their use as an alternative to traditional air entraining agents in concrete exposed to freeze-thaw conditions in accordance with ASTM C666. Compression testing according to ASTM C39 was conducted to examine the changes in strength of polymer-modified concrete as compared to concrete containing a commercial air entraining agent. Various molecular weights and concentrations were explored in concrete samples containing polymer modifications. Results indicate that biomimetic antifreeze polymers do not significantly affect the compressive strength of concrete and may provide an alternative to traditional air entraining agents at lower concentrations than their air entraining admixture counterparts.

Image at Right:

• Specimens with entrained air after freezing and thawing
• Test specimen undergoing compression test
• Specimens with biomimetic antifreeze polymer after freezing and thawing

Off

Full Title: Geopolymer Cements: Resistance-Engineered Sewer Infrastructure for Longevity using Innovative, Energy-efficient, Synthesis Techniques (RESILIENT)

Year: 2016-21

Participants: Mohammad Matar, Xu Chen, JP Gevaudan

Primary Investigator: Wil Srubar III (CU Boulder)

Co-Investigator: Claire White (Princeton University)

Summary: The primary objective of this Extremely Durable Cementitious Materials project is to engineer an ultra-acid-resistant low-calcium alkali-activated (geopolymer) cement paste specifically for wastewater (i.e., sewer) infrastructure applications to address the critical need for concrete materials with enhanced biogenic sulfuric acid resistance compared to ordinary portland cement (OPC) concrete.

In the United States, local governments spend approximately $50 billion annually on the construction, operation, and maintenance of over 800,000 miles (1,300,000 km) of concrete sewers – $13.8 billion of which is specifically used to prevent and mitigate the effects of microbial-induced concrete corrosion (MICC). While sulfuric acid destabilizes and dissolves the calcium-rich phases in OPC, yielding weak, gypsiferous reaction products and deterioration severe enough to cause collapse, low-calcium geopolymers laden with polyvalent cations (i.e., Mg(OH)2, Fe(OH)3, and, in some cases, Ca(OH)2) have been shown by the PI, Co-PI, and others to exhibit exceptional acid resistance to sulfuric acid compared to OPC.

The resulting geopolymer cement paste formulations will exhibit 80% reductions in steady-state biodeterioration rates compared to OPC concrete (from ~5 mm/year (0.20 in.year) to ~1 mm/year (0.04 in/year)), which will extend the service life of concrete sewer infrastructure ~5X and will yield reductions in total life cycle environmental (i.e., embodied energy and embodied carbon) costs of mitigating biogenic sulfuric acid degradation by ~75%.

Image above:

• Microbial-induced concrete corrosion. Sulfur oxidizing bacteria (SOB) generate sulfuric acid on the crowns and in the headspaces of concrete pipes, converting Ca-rich binder phases to weak, gypsiferous reaction products.

• Metal cation additions effect on improving the sulfuric acid resistance of geopolymer cements: Prof. Srubar’s team has shown that (a) Mg2+, (b) Fe3+ and (c) Cu2+ additions show improved acid resistance in highly acidic (pH ~ 2) H2SO4 (i.e., dimensional stability in (a) and (b) and no evidence of dealumination in (c)); Prof. White (Princeton) has utilized DFT to show (d) atomic rearrangements and changes in total energy that occur as Ca2+ is replaced by Na+ in the interlayer of C-S-H gel; a similar technique will be used to identify best-performing polyvalent cations for binder stabilization.

Off

Year: 2017-21

Participants:  Rollin Jones, Marimikel Charrier, Bruce Zou, Juliana Artier, Aparna Nagarajan, Chelsea Heveran, Jishen Qiu, Liya Liang, Sarah Williams

Primary Investigator: Wil Srubar III, Mija Hubler, Sherri Cook, Jeff Cameron

Summary: The objective of this project is to engineer living materials to serve both biological and structural functions. Living Building Materials (LBMs) were created by inoculating an inert structural sand-hydrogel scaffold with Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002, a photosynthetic cyanobacterium. The scaffold provided structural support for Synechococcus, which toughened the hydrogel matrix via calcium carbonate biomineralization. LBMs represent a platform technology that leverages biology to potentially impart novel sensing, responsive, and regenerative multifunctionality to structural materials for the built environment.

Wil Srubar discusses BioBricks: 

Off

Project Title: Tension Testing of Flexible Expansion Joints  

Industry Partners: EBAA Iron, Inc. 

CIEST Personnel: Hailey Parnell, Lindsay Guerrero, Bruce Lucero

Primary Investigator: Prof. Brad Wham 

Year: 2020 

Project Summary:  The intent of the test program is to investigate the axial performance of a Flex-Tend Flexible Expansion Joint (FEJ) and a Force-Balanced FlexTend Flexible Expansion Joint (FBFEJ), each nominally 6-in. diameter. Externally applied axial tension load test results are compared to data obtained from internal pressure burst tests and demonstrate that, while similar levels of axial force are required to initiate component failure, the failure mechanisms differ and and influenced by the circumferential stress supplied during burst testing. The work was undertaken in the Center for Infrastructure, Energy, and Space Testing (CIEST) which is affiliated with the Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department at the Â鶹ĘÓƵ.  

Follow this link for the Report by H.L. Parnell, L. Guerrero, B.A. Lucero, and B.P. Wham.

Testing Report

Off

Full Project Title: Seismic Evaluation of Hazard-Resistant Pipelines: Axial Testing of PVC, PVCO, and iPVC Pipe with Coupling

Year: 2019

Industry Partners: East Bay Municipal Utility Department (EBMUD)

CIEST Personnel: Cory Ihnotic, David Kyle Anderson, Jessica Ramos, David Balcells, Brice Lucero, John Hindman, and co.

Primary Investigator: Prof. Brad Wham

Summary: The first in a series of testing programs at CU Boulder CIEST investigating performance of critical lifeline systems under extreme loading conditions. This study focuses on the response of various thermoplastic pipe materials and a coupling connection under externally applied axial and lateral loading.  Internally pressurized, 6 in. (150 mm) diameter specimens were tested to failure under various loading scenarios including axial tension, compression, and cyclic loading as well as transverse 4-pt bending. This project initiated the development of self-reacting test frame capable of applying dynamic tension and/or compressive loading in excess of 100,000 lbs (445 kN) to linear structures up to 12 ft (3.66 m) long. CIEST’s 1,000,000 lb (4450 kN) four-post load frame was employed to apply lateral loading.  

View the full report

Appreciation is extended to collaborators David Katzev and Timothy Harris of EBMUD for their intellectual and practical contributions to the project. 

Off