Determination of a Secant Modulus from Material Tests for the Efficient Simulation of Polyethylene Pipes in Rignstiffness Tests

Abstract

Pipes made from high density polyethylene subject to the Ringstiffness test to BS EN 1446: 1996 are sought to be simulated by means of the Finite Element Method. Companies often express their interest in simple and very efficient calculations providing results almost instantly. Thus a linear elastic material model will be employed even though for good accuracy the simulation of a viscoelastic material would require a time dependent model. To improve the accuracy of the simulations material tests are conducted and a guideline is developed to extract a secant modulus that takes temperature, strain rate and strain level into account.