CSI group conducted two biaxial tension tests for the ductile iron pipe

Two biaxial tension tests were conducted on August 31st and September 28th by the Center of Smart Infrastructure (CSI) group at Davis Hall. The TR-XTREME ductile iron pipes manufactured by U.S. Pipe, designed to maintain the full-service life after seismic events, were tested.

The experiment aims to test the capability of the joint of the pipe under different locking segment configurations while subjected to vertical and axial combined force. The distributed fiber optic sensing technology with OFDR LUNA analyzer was used to monitor and capture the pipe failure mechanism. A finite element model was created using ABAQUS and validated using the experimental data.