Building Research Council 
School of Architecture  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

 Prevention of Bursting in Water Pipes

This research consists of two parts:
  • Phase 1: Tests of water pipes subjected to freezing temperatures in a laboratory test apparatus.
  • Phase 2: Field tests of water pipes placed in vulnerable locations in typical residential construction over the course of a winter.
The research effort established a critical, though poorly understood, fact: Freezing ruptures a water pipe as a result of extremely high hydraulic pressures following the blockage of the pipe by ice, and not from any direct action of the ice itself. A pipe typically will burst in a location at some distance from the main ice growth.

This finding has led to the development of several innovative burst prevention strategies. One strategy, pressure-relief plumbing fixtures, has resulted in a University of Illinois patent.

A summary of the first two phases of research has been published by the Insurance Institute for Property Loss Reduction (IIPLR), with over 2000 copies of the research report distributed nationally. (You may obtain a copy of this report directly from the Building Research Council).

The BRC is presently involved in a third phase of research: 1) establishing the burst pressures of various piping systems, and, 2) developing a mathematical model to describe temperatures and pressures associated with freezing and bursting water pipes.


   Research Report 96-1
Contact Jeff Gordon about this research.

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Last updated 7/26/01

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