Composite Pipe Structure for Trenchless Renovation Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pipes used for liquid transport, particularly in landfills, face deformation and potential collapse due to mechanical stress, especially during trenchless renovation where lateral support is lacking, leading to instability and fluid removal issues.
Innovation Solution
A pipe design featuring a tubular body made of polyethylene with axially extending regions and radially circumferential recesses filled with fiber-reinforced composite material, providing mechanical stability and chemical resistance, allowing for trenchless renovation without lateral support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional pipe is used in trenchless renovation without lateral support, then the pipe can be inserted into old pipes, but the pipe deforms and collapses under mechanical stress from above
Solution Approach 1:
The pipe combines polyethylene material with fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) wrapping to create a composite structure. The polyethylene provides chemical resistance while the FRP layer provides enhanced mechanical strength and stiffness, enabling the pipe to withstand vertical loads without lateral support during trenchless renovation installations
2Strength
If a fiber-reinforced plastic pipe is used to increase mechanical stability, then the pipe resists deformation, but the pipe lacks chemical resistance to aggressive landfill leachate
Solution Approach 1:
The pipe uses a composite structure where polyethylene material provides chemical resistance to landfill leachate while fiber-reinforced plastic wrapping provides mechanical stability. The two materials work together to simultaneously address both chemical and mechanical requirements that neither material could satisfy alone
3Strength
If the pipe wall thickness is increased to prevent deformation, then mechanical stability improves, but the pipe becomes more prone to fracture under point loads
Solution Approach 1:
The fiber-reinforced plastic wrapping creates a composite structure that distributes point loads across the fiber network, preventing stress concentration that would lead to fracture. The fibers bridge cracks and distribute loads evenly, maintaining both deformation resistance and fracture toughness
Solution Approach 2:
The fiber-reinforced plastic wrapping acts as a flexible reinforcement layer that can deform elastically under load and return to its original shape, providing toughness and fracture resistance while maintaining structural integrity under various loading conditions
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The pipe maintains mechanical stability and chemical resistance, ensuring effective fluid transport and drainage, even in deformed or collapsing old pipes, by combining the strength of fiber-reinforced materials with the chemical resistance of polyethylene, thus preventing deformation and fracture.
Implementation Method 1
The second areas (7) are each a radially circumferential recess in the tubular body (3) between two first areas (5), the recess being at least partially filled with a second material (9) applied to the first material (1). The first material (1) is different from the second material (9), which is fiber reinforced.
Implementation Method 2
The first material is different from the second material (9), which is fiber reinforced. The combination of the tubular body made of the first material with the fiber-reinforced second material (9) applied thereto in areas beyond the first areas (5) enables the combination of mechanical stability through the second material (9) with chemical resistance to the fluids transported in the tube
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Pipe (1) with a pipe body (3) made of a first material, which has axially extending first regions (5) and at least one axially extending second region (7), wherein the second region (7) is a radially circumferential recess in the pipe body (3) between two first regions (5) which is at least partially filled with a second material (9), wherein the first material is different from the second material (9), which is fiber-reinforced.