Session: DA-02-02: Design & Analysis of Piping and Components II

Paper Number: 62014

Start Time: Tuesday, July 13, 2021, 05:00 PM

62014 - Demonstration of Intelligent Welding Machine for Polyethylene Pipe 

Polyethylene (PE) pipes are widely used in oil and gas transportation. Electrofusion (EF) welding is one of the most common connection methods for polyethylene pipe, as well as thermoplastic pipe and reinforced composite pipe. Conventional EF welding generally adopts constant voltage welding mode. The welding machine outputs a constant welding voltage to heat the resistance wire within the determined welding time. In our previous study, intelligent welding machine was designed to ensure the quality of the EF joint, based on the study of the temperature field in EF joint. In this paper, three experiments were used to show the difference between the intelligent welding machine and traditional welding machine. The intelligent welding machine can actively adjust the welding parameters (e.g. welding voltage, welding time, etc.) to ensure the quality of EF joint when given the wrong welding voltage and welding time. Compared with the traditional welding machine, the intelligent welding machine can precisely control the maximum temperature of the EF joint during the welding process. Besides, the intelligent welding machine can control the maximum temperature of the EF joint in the case of various sizes of pipe fittings. The quality of the EF joint can be better contained by using the intelligent welding machine.

Presenting Author: Guangte Xiang Zhejiang University

Authors:

Guangte Xiang Zhejiang University
Yurui Hu Zhejiang University
Sheng Zeng Zhejiang University
Jianfeng Shi Zhejiang University
Jinyang Zheng Zhejiang University