As the use of plastic pipe and fittings becomes increasingly commonplace in new areas where metal pipe once dominated, the testing of plastic pipe and fittings has expanded into a variety of methods. Common materials evaluated include HDPE, PVC, CPVC, PEX, PEX-AL-PEX, and Fiberglass. Various pipe leakage and burst specifications including but not limited to ASTM, ANSI, AWWA, CSA, DPH, FM, and ISO are routinely performed at the Exova plastic pipe testing laboratory.

Testing conducted includes:
•    Long term hydrostatic pressure
•    Burst pressure
•    Slow crack growth (PENT) testing
•    Fitting & seal mode testing
•    Flattening
•    Carbon black content
•    Hydrostatic weight loss
•    Volume change
•    Flexural modulus

Supporting capabilities include fully equipped analytical test laboratory for SEM, FTIR, DSC, TGA, and many additional tests. Exova’s plastic pipe testing laboratory can accommodate samples up to 36” in diameter and can test all sizes of pipe at environmental conditions of freezing up to +160C.