Materials used for industrial

pipe work
The material polyvinyl chloride unplasticized (PVC-U)
PVC-U properties (reference values)
Characteristics Value *) Units Test Standard
Density 1.38 g/cm³ EN ISO 1183-1
Yield stress at 23 °C ≥ 52 N/mm² EN ISO 527-1
Tensile e-modulus at 23 °C ≥ 2500 N/mm² EN ISO 527-1
Charpy notched impact strength at 23 °C ≥6 kJ/m² EN ISO 179-1/1eA
Charpy notched impact strength at 0 °C ≥3 kJ/m² EN ISO 179-1/1eA
Ball indentation hardness (358N) ≥ 105 MP EN ISO 2039-1
Heat distortion temperature HDT A 1.80 MPa 66 °C EN ISO 75-2
Vicat heat distortion temperature B/50N ≥ 76 °C ISO 306
Heat conductivity at 23 °C 0.15 W/m K EN 12664
Water absorption at 23 °C ≤ 0.1 % EN ISO 62
Colour 7011 - RAL
Limiting oxygen index (LOI) 42 % ISO 4589-1

*) Typical values measured on the material. These val- • high mechanical tensile strength with good impact
ues should not be used for design purposes. strength
General • self-extinguishing
Polyvinylchloride, widely known by its abbreviation PVC, • secure solvent cementing using Tangit© and Dytex©
is one of the most important and oldest mass-produced • adhesive development designed for GF PVC-U
polymers. World-wide consumption of PVC is only ex-
• use of tin stabilisers for fittings and valves
ceeded by PE and PP, PVC was first produced in the
middle of the nineteenth century. An industrial pro- • low friction loss owing to smooth surfaces
duction process was, however, first patented in 1913. • recyclable
Nowadays, many industrial applications couldn’t be re-
alised without PVC. But also in the use of daily prod- Mechanical properties
ucts, PVC has become irreplaceable. PVC-U from GF reflects a balanced picture regarding
the mechanical short-term properties. Because of the
PVC is a polymer having approximately 56 % by weight strong interaction between the chlorine atoms in the
of chlorine. Only by using additives does it become polymer chain, PVC-U shows a high tensile strength
a processable and usable material. The additives al- and stiffness. At the same time, the elasticity of the GF
low a wide variation of its characteristics and allows it to structural parts is good, a characteristic guaranteed by
be adjusted to the planned application. There are two regular quality control testing.
classes of PVC materials. Soft PVC (PVC-P), produced
by adding plasticizers (such as, e. g. phthalate), is not The long-term behaviour for internal pressure resistance
used by GF. Hard PVC, the so-called unplasticized PVC is provided by the hydrostatic strength curve based on
(PVC-U) is used for pipeline engineering. the EN ISO 15493 or DIN 8061 standards (also see the
Calculation and Long-Term Behaviour of PVC-U sec-
PVC-U is an amorphous thermoplastic. The character- tion). The application limits for pipes and fittings, as
istics of PVC-U moulded parts are strongly dependent shown in the PVC-U pressure-temperature diagram,
on the composition of the formula, but also on the pro- can be derived from these curves.
cessing. Because of our 40-year experience in PVC
processing and the continuous advancement of our own Behaviour during dynamic loading corresponds to the
formula, GF has become a benchmark in the field of- highest quality requirements and is tested regularly.
PVC-U piping. Chemical and weathering resistance
GF's PVC-U is characterised by the following character- The outstanding chemical resistance of PVC-U extends
istics: to high concentrations. Resistance against the influence
• universal use of most mineral acids, bases and salt solutions and also
sodium hypochlorite solutions is very good. Resistance
• very good chemical and corrosion resistance to aliphatic hydrocarbons and elemental chlorine is also
• proven physiological harmlessness and therefore suit- good. PVC-U, in general, shows weakness against aro-
able for contact with food matic or chlorinated solvents, esters and ketones. Use
• no influence on drinking water quality with gases is also not recommended. If the use of oils,
varnish or fats is being considered, a prior investigation
• biologically inert; no support of microbial growth
is advisable.

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July 28, 2011
For detailed information, please refer to the detailed list Electrical properties
of chemical resistance from GF or contact your GF sub- PVC-U is, as all unmodified thermoplastics, non-con-
sidiary. ductive. This means that no electrochemical corrosion
takes place in PVC-U systems. On the other hand,
These specifications are also valid - with exceptions -
these non-conductive characteristics have to be taken
for adhesive joints, which normally are implemented by
into account because an electrostatic charge can de-
applying strongly dissolving gap-filling solvent cement to
velop in the piping. It is especially important to take this
the PVC-U.
condition into account in areas where explosive gas-
PVC-U is very resistant to weathering. Long-term influ- es can appear. There are various methods available to
ence of direct sunlight as well as the effect of wind and avoid the occurrence of electrostatic charges on poly-
rain damage the material only superficially. Despite its mer piping systems. Please contact your GF represen-
very good weathering resistance regarding ultraviolet tative for more information regarding these methods.
radiation, PVC-U loses some of its impact strength. In
The specific volume resistance is >10 Ωcm.
15

extreme applications it can be advantageous to protect

the material from direct sunlight exposure. Physiological properties
The PVC-U formulas were developed by GF for use
Thermal properties
with drinking water and food. PVC-U's physiological
PVC-U shows very good characteristics in the temper-
harmlessness regarding neutral, acidic and alcoholic
ature range from 0 to 60 ºC. At lower temperatures, the
foods and the non-influence on drinking water in respect
impact strength drops considerably. Tensile strength
to odour, taste or microbiological effects is regularly
and stiffness drop with increased temperatures. Please
checked and monitored by neutral institutions in various
consult the pressure-temperature diagram especially for
countries.
your maximum working temperature. Because the soft-
ening-point temperature of the fitting and valve materi- GF offers PVC-U systems free from lead and cadmi-
als lies above 76 ºC, applications must remain limited to um for your applications in the fields of drinking water
temperatures below 60 ºC. or food. The residual monomer content of vinyl chloride
lies below the detection limit of modern analytical meth-
The thermal expansion coefficient of PVC-U at 0.07 to
ods.
0.08 mm/m K lies clearly above that of metals. Of all
the materials for industrial piping installations, available
from GF, PVC-U shows one of the lowest expansion co-
efficients. Nevertheless, the thermal expansion has to
be taken into account during the planning of the installa-
tion.
Similar to all polymers, PVC-U is a good thermal insu-
lator. At 0.15 W/m K, the heat conductivity of PVC-U is
very low. The value for steel, on the other hand, is 250
W/m K.
Combustion behaviour
The high chlorine content of PVC-U causes an advanta-
geous combustion behaviour. Self-ignition resulting from
temperature influences occurs only at 450 °C. PVC-U
burns when exposed to an open flame, but extinguishes
immediately after removing the flame.
The oxygen index amounts to 42 %. (Materials that burn
with less than 21 % of oxygen in the air are considered
to be flammable).
PVC-U thus falls in the best flammability class V0 ac-
cording to UL94, and in the B1 (difficult to ignite) build-
ing material class with wall thicknesses ≤ 3.2 mm re-
spective B2 (normally flammable) with wall thickness-
es >3.2 mm according to DIN 4102-1. According to the
French test method NF P 92-501, GF PVC-U is tested
as M2.
Because the combustion of PVC produces hydrogen
chloride, which forms a corrosive acid in connection with
water, immediate cleaning of areas susceptible to corro-
sion is necessary after a fire. Danger to personnel from
HCl is minimal because its pungent odour allows early
escape from toxic combustion gases, mainly from the
odourless carbon monoxide.
There are no restrictions concerning the choice of fire-
fighting agents.

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July 28, 2011