FUSION SIMULATION OF ELECTROFUSION POLYETHYLENE JOINTS FOR GAS-DISTRIBUTION

Fusion simulation is one of the key techniques used in designing and producing electrofusion joints for gas distribution and in evaluating fusion joint integrity. This paper describes the results of numerical stimulation of the thermal fusion process, using the finite element method. A nonlinear heat transfer computer program was used to obtain the temperature profile of an electrofusion joint at fusion. It was found that the temperature experimentally measured at the fusion interface by insertion of a thermocouple agreed with the temperature computed by fusion simulation. In addition, as both the temperature at the fusion interface and the resin temperature close to the wire corresponding to the mechanical strength of the fusion part were measured, it was confirmed that the proper heating conditions for each joint could be determined based on the results of the fusion simulation.