- Author
-
Toner, S. D.
- Title
- Failure Analysis of a Polyethylene (PE) Natural Gas Service Line from Bowie, Maryland (NBS Failure Analysis No. 107). Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- Department of Transportation, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NBSIR 74-494
May 1974
12 p.
- Distribution
- Limited Distribution Available from National Technical Information Services
- Keywords
-
failure analysis; pipes; natural gas
- Abstract
- A natural gas leak from a crack in a polyethylene (PE) service line was reported to be the substantive caused of a fatal explosion in a private residence in Bowie, Maryland. An analysis of the pipe was conducted to determine the possible cause of failure. The results indicated that a stress crack was apparently initiated by the presence of an occluded particle, which appeared to have gotten into the inner pipe wall at some stage in the fabrication process, resulting in the eventual failure of the pipe.