Buckling of plastic pipes

The structural systems including pipe systems may undergo certain deformations and stiffness changes that would reduce their strength and serviceability. Hence the instability is regarded as a failure mode, which should be seriously evaded. There are many cases in which structures have failed due to instability of their state of equilibrium. In buildings, vertical slender members may fail under relatively heavy loads; this type of instability is referred to as buckling. Buckling failure may occur in variety of cases, such as in compression members of trusses and frames, in piles, in pipes, in plate and shell structures, and in various machine elements. Pipes may also buckle laterally or longitudinally. The stability and the instability of plastic pipes are strongly affected by time, temperature, and other system as well as environmental factors. Plastic pipes are very flexible. The stiffness of plastic pipes can be strongly influenced by temperature, chemicals, and time factor. Buckling of plastic pipes is the result of reduced stiffness under sustained load and thermal as well as chemical effects in the course of time. Initial deformations and geometric imperfections may reduce the buckling stability, and increase the probability of creep-like excessive deformations.