Thermal Expansion

LORO-X steel drainage pipes have a low coefficient of expansion of just 0.0117 mm/m per °K. The expansion coefficient of the steel drainage pipe is therefore roughly equivalent to that of concrete or reinforced concrete.

With sufficient changes of direction (e.g. bends), the length expansion of individual pipes is usually so small that it can be absorbed by the fixings, fittings and the insertion depth of the push-fit sockets. Embedding hot-dip galvanised steel drainage pipes in concrete has been state of the art for many years.

The thermal expansion of a pipe is calculated using the following formula:

Length expansion (mm) = pipe length (m) * temperature difference (°K) * expansion coefficient (mm/m*K)

Example

• Pipe length = 3 metres
• Temperature difference = 25 °K

3 (m) x 25 (°K) x 0.0117 (mm/m*K) = 0.8775 mm length expansion

Comparison

The comparison shows that conventional plastic pipes exhibit a length expansion approximately 17 times greater than that of steel pipes and concrete.