Abstract
Polyethylene (PE) pipe has been widely used in the transportation natural gas, and electrofusion (EF) welding is a welding method commonly used in the welding of polyethylene pipes. Defects are likely to occur in electrofusion joints, which lead to significant casualties and economic losses if PE pipes failed during service. However, the assessment of electrofusion joints is made by visual inspection and destructive testing, which can’t detect internal defects directly. This paper introduces two recently developed Chinese standards for nondestructive testing and safety assessment of electrofusion joints. These standards illustrate inspection process, sample block, defect characterization and safety assessment. Some research, applying these standards for inspection and safety assessment of electrofusion joint, is introduced in this paper. Those researches show that ultrasonic detection technology in these standards is suitable for defects inspection, and standards provide standard technical support for the safety of polyethylene pipelines.
