Drop weight tests up to 100,000 J - Welspun trusts in Zwick

Testing of pipeline tubes - Welspun uses a drop wheight tester from Zwick

Welspun Corp Ltd has production sites in India and the USA and is one of the world‘s largest manufacturers of pipeline tubes. According to the American Petrol Institution (API), pipeline tubes are subject to strict standards. Welspun therefore opts for products from Zwick in its quality assurance process.

Welspun manufactures pipeline tubes up to 250 cm in diameter. For these large oil or gas pipes, specimens taken from the tube wall are subject to a drop weight test in accordance with API 5L. Specimens with the height of the original wall thickness and widths of several centimeters are loaded suddenly by a falling weight with tup. The energy – determined by the weight and release height – is set so that the specimen breaks, allowing a visual inspection of the break surface. Zwick manufactures drop weight testers for energies of up to 100,000 J for these types of test.

The specimens are pneumatically fed to the drop weight tester and the tools are fitted outside the test area. The test area is electrically and mechanically safeguarded – a test can only take place once all the safety contacts have been checked. The infinitely settable drop height is automatically approached after the drop weight and drop energy have been entered.

Welspun not only chooses Zwick quality for the drop weight tests, but also uses testing machines for tensile tests and pendulum impact testers for Charpy tests in the Welspun laboratories. Both individual machines and automated versions. “The positive experience with testing machines from the house of Zwick as well as the accurate test results in tests up to 100,000 J were the decisive reasons for choosing Zwick,” says Mr. Bijay Pandey r from the Welspun laboratory in Anjar (India).