Mechanical Tests :
There are mechanical tests and physical tests for polyethylene pipes as per mentioned standard as below
For above tests that is hydrostatic pressure testing you will need 4 types of equipment:
1- Pressure units (Number of lines are as per customer request and max pressure of testing for PE pipes is less than 80 bar for hydrostatic and burst tests)
2- Hydrostatic hot water bath for 80C tests
3- Hydrostatic cold water bath for 20C tests that need standard bath+chiller unit
4- End caps for PE pipes is A type as per EN 921 (Sizes will be as customer request, for very big sizes also customers can use butt weld end caps for low cost purpose)
Physical Tests
1- Elongation at break for 3 different thickness ranges will be done by universal tensile tester and 2 types of grips (Wedge grip and grips for type 3 according to ISO 6259). Force capacity of tensile tester will be chosen based on pipe thickness. UT of PE is about 25MPa you based on this and type 3 width of narrow section that is 25mm ,you can calculate max force capacity needed. Suppose that thickness of pipes is 20mm. Then :
20*25*25 [thickness*width of narrow section for type 3*UT of HDPE]= 12500N=1250kgf
Max travel of about 1000mm is enough for HDPE pipes elongation measurement.
2- Melt mass flow rate is measured by MFR or MFI tester. for PE, 5kg weight and 190C will be used.
3- Oxidation induction time will be measured using OIT-DSC tester. Max temperature of 300C for PE sector is enough. Also no need for complicated functions of DSC tester. only OIT measurement function is enough. You also need Ind and Tin pellet for periodical calibration checkout of machine.
Chemical Characteristics
9 Chemical characteristics of pipes in contact with chemicals
If for a particular installation it is necessary to evaluate the chemical resistance of the pipe, then the pipe shall be classified in accordance with ISO 4433-1:1997 and ISO 4433-2:1997.
NOTE: Guidance for the resistance of polyethylene pipes to chemicals is given in ISO/TR 10358.
Performance Tests
10 Performance requirements
When pipes conforming to this standard are assembled to each other or to components conforming to other parts of prEN 12201, the joints shall conform to the requirements of prEN 12201-5.