One of our BIPSPA MSc students is examining the surface properties of new and used pipes.  The study includes samples of different materials (steel, copper, stainless) and different production processes (hot-formed and cold-finished).  The objective of the work is to determine the impact of service life exposure on different pipework systems.

Using a 10x microscope, we have been able to generate 3D maps of the surfaces allowing surface roughness, crest and trough heights, average roughness, areas of material sacrifice and deposit to be determined.

The initial results have highlighted a significant difference in the samples after exposure to representative building services conditions. Different textures, colours, grain size, corrosion type, corrosion intensity have been observed. The next step is to draw out trends and conclude the performance of different pipe samples to help with pipework materials selection.