Forensic Engineers and Consultants

Tag Archive: exposed pipes

  1. How Long Before the Pipes Freeze?

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    An unexpected severe winter freeze will remind many people and businesses that when water in a pipe freezes, the ice will expand and burst the pipe or pipe fitting.  Large losses will result from flooding when the temperatures rise.  Insulation will help, but not prevent freezing.  Insulation simply slows down the rate of heat loss.  The time of exposure to subfreezing temperature is an important factor.

    The American Society of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Handbook of Fundamentals has a short entry on the topic (Chapter 23, page 23.5-6), which gives an equation for estimating the time that it will take an insulated pipe to freeze, (more…)

  2. How Long Before The Pipes Freeze?

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    The unusually severe 2014 winter in the eastern United States has reminded many people and businesses that when water in a pipe freezes, the ice will expand and burst the pipe or pipe fitting.  Large losses will result from flooding when the temperatures rise.  Insulation will help, but not prevent freezing.  Insulation simply slows down the rate of heat loss.  The time of exposure to subfreezing temperature is an important factor. (more…)

  3. Freeze Damage to Fire Sprinkler Systems

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    The ongoing frigid temperatures serve as a reminder of the many investigations by Warren engineers involving fire sprinkler systems that have failed when some part of the system was exposed to the sub-freezing conditions. Interestingly, failures do not necessarily occur within the area of greatest freeze exposure, as the failure mechanism is the extreme pressure that results from the growth of an ice plug inside the exposed pipe in which the high pressure will rupture the weakest component which may even be located in a heated area of the sprinkler system. (more…)

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