Cast iron pipe is pipe made predominantly from gray cast iron. It was historically used as a pressure pipe for transmission of water, gas and sewage, and as a water drainage pipe during the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

In many modern applications, cast iron pipe has been replaced by ductile iron pipe, but this newer product is still often loosely referred to by the older historical name.

History

Typical leaded bell-and-spigot joint used for cast iron pipe

The oldest cast iron water pipes date from the 17th century and were installed to distribute water throughout the gardens of the Chateau de Versailles. These amount to some 35 km of pipe, typically 1 m lengths with flanged joints. The extreme age of these pipes make them of considerable historical value. Despite extensive refurbishment in 2008 by Saint-Gobain PAM, 80% remain original.

Cast iron proved to be a beneficial material for the manufacture of water pipes and was used as a replacement for the original elm pipelines utilized earlier. These water pipelines were composed of individually cast pipe sections, often termed sticks, jointed together by a variety of joint mechanisms. Flanged joints consisted of flat machined surfaces that were tightly bolted together with a gasket between them to prevent leakage. This type of pipe joint is still in use today, typically for above-ground pipelines in water treatment and manufacturing plants.

Cast iron pipe was frequently used uncoated, although later coatings and linings reduced corrosion and improved hydraulics. In cast iron pipe, the graphite forms flakes during the casting process, when examined under a microscope. Cast iron pipe was superseded by ductile iron pipe, which is a direct development, with most existing manufacturing plants transitioning to the new material during the 1970s and 1980s. Ductile iron pipe is different than cast iron, because the introduction of magnesium during the casting process causes the graphite to form spheres (graphite nodules) rather than flakes. While this allows the material to remain castable, the end product is much tougher than cast iron, and allows elastic behavior at lower stress levels.^[1] Little cast iron pipe is currently manufactured, since ductile iron pipe is widely accepted as a superior product. Many public utilities, municipalities, and private industries still have functional cast iron pipe in service to this day.

Joints

In a bell and spigot joint^[2] one end of the pipe stick is flared, termed the bell or socket, to enable the opposite end of the next stick, the spigot end, to be inserted to create a joint. The gaps in these joints were stuffed with oakum or yarn to retain molten-lead, which solidified into a waterproof joint. This was a labor-intensive operation, and the quality of the seal was dependent on the skill of the laborer.

Mechanical joints were made by bolting a movable follower ring on the spigot close to the corresponding bell, which compressed a gasket in between. Many water pipes today use mechanical joints, since they are easily made and do not require special skills to install. This type of joint also allows some deflection to occur without sacrificing joint integrity, so that minor alignment adjustments can be made during installation, and the joints retain their integrity when subjected to limited subsidence. Typical joint deflections at mechanical joints today range anywhere from 3 to 5 degrees.

Ball-and-socket joints introduced more "rounded" sockets, allowing a relatively large amount of deflection at each joint. This type of joint, still in use today, was considered a special-purpose joint, and has been used primarily in both submerged and mountainous terrain. This type of joint can typically allow around 15 degrees of deflection at each joint, making 'snaking' of the pipe possible.^[3] The advantage of this joint type was that it was quicker than bell and spigot joints, and did not require special skills or tools to install.

Push-on joints, developed in the mid 1950s, allowed a quicker and relatively non-skilled method of jointing pipe. This joint consisted of a bell with a recessed groove which held a rubberized gasket. A lubricated beveled spigot section can be pushed into this joint with care, as not to roll the rubberized gasket, and once installed became watertight. This type of jointing system is popular today with ductile iron and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes.

Manufacture

Internal corrosion

Corrosion of cast-iron-pipe can occur on both the internal and external surfaces. In electro-chemical corrosion, internal anodes develop where bare iron is exposed to aggressive waters, promoting iron to move into solution. The iron combines with various components in the water, forming a tubercle on the pipe interior. This process of tuberculation can eventually cause significant restrictions in cross-sectional area within the pipe. Since the tubercles are irregularly shaped, buildup of bacterial growths on the surface are likely. As more iron moves into solution, the result is a loss of pipe structure over time potentially affecting pipe integrity. In storm and sanitary sewer systems, the creation of acidic gases (such as hydrogen sulfide) by microbial action can further corrode internal pipe walls but is most pronounced on the inside ‘ceiling’ of the pipe.

Starting in 1922, internal cement linings were introduced to act as a barrier to minimize internal corrosion. In 1929, the American Standard Association (ASA) Sectional Committee issued a tentative standard for cement-mortar linings, which was published in 1932. In 1939, American Standard A21.4 was published, which defined a Type I cement coating on the inside of waterline pipe to be used. When the standard was updated in 1953, the Type I cement was replaced with Type II, since it was believed that Type II was a more closely controlled product. The standard was further revised in 1964, which included the use of either Type I or Type II cement, and making two different mortar thicknesses available.^[7]

Standardization

The first standardization of cast iron water pipes in Britain occurred in 1917 with the publishing of BS 78. This standard specified a dimensionless nominal size, which approximately corresponded with the internal diameter in inches of the pipe, and four pressure classes, Class A, Class B, Class C and Class D, each with a specified wall thickness and outer diameter. It is noted that the outer diameter is identical between classes with the exception of sizes 12 to 27, where Classes A and B share one diameter and Classes C and D have another, larger diameter.

BS 78 was finally superseded when the UK harmonised with incompatible European standards, however, the specified outer dimensions continue to remain in effect (albeit in metric form) as the standard pipe outer diameter for ductile iron pipe in Australia and New Zealand through the descendant specification, AS/NZS 2280.

References

External links

• Notes on Pipe Archived 2018-01-16 at the Wayback Machine - gizmology
• Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute - organized in 1949
• waterpipes supplier - waterpipage