Evolution of critical defects under typical service conditions in cast iron pipe materials

Leakage of treated water from buried pipes remains a major problem for the water industry. There is a lack of detailed understanding of the physical and mechanical processes by which leaks form and develop. Moreover, no methods exist to track the progress of a leak in order to identify imminent failure.

Further research is needed in these areas to inform and advance the development of practical tools, technologies and methods in these areas.

The PhD will investigate pipeline fault development from a materials science perspective, with a particular focus on the effect of localised corrosion pit formation, both on inner and outer surfaces, and the effect of expected service loading conditions on leak or break outcomes as the pits develop and propagate under loads in typical cast iron pipe microstructures.

The work will focus on the development of benchmarking tests in soil environments, where pit morphology and evolution in cast iron pipe-line materials can be evaluated via state-of-the-art X-ray CT techniques.

The effect of such pits on service-related failure behaviour can then be systematically evaluated using the advanced mechanical testing facilities available in the university's testing structures research facility, part of their new National Infrastructure Laboratory. The impact of different loading conditions and pipeline environmental conditions will be investigated.

The project will be a balance of theoretical and experimental work, including flow visualisation studies, from which important insights will be gleaned into the mechanisms at play.

Significant industrial collaboration and in-kind support together with partial funding co-sponsorship is already agreed.