Analyses on the Short-Term Mechanical Properties of Plastic Pipe Reinforced by Cross Helically Wound Steel Wires

Plastic pipe reinforced by cross helically wound steel wires, namely PSP, is a new plastic-matrix steel composite pipe developed in China recently. In order to understand the mechanical properties of PSP under internal pressure, a four-layer analytical model, which considers the torsion caused by the differences between the winding angles of the inner and outer steel wire layers, has been proposed using structural mechanics. The model includes an inner high density polyethylene (HDPE) layer, an inner steel wire layer, an outer steel wire layer, and an outer HDPE layer. To investigate the mechanical properties in inner and outer steel wire layers, the elastic parameters of the composite monolayer plate were deduced from the rectangle outside and circle inside model. During the elastic response of PSP subjected to internal pressure, the stresses and strains in four layers and pressures between the interfaces were obtained. Good agreement between theoretical results and experimental data was observed, which shows that the presented model can be employed to predict stresses, strains, and torsions in PSP. The failure modes and torque values between PSPs manufactured by two different methods were compared, and the influence of the change in the winding angle on the strain in the exterior surface was also discussed.