Teekay Couplings Plastlock Pipe Coupling

Posted by Irina Tabakina

Teekay Couplings launched its new Teekay Plastlock Pipe Coupling at SMM in Hamburg, Germany. Designed to enable simple, rapid and permanent joining of plain-ended plastic pipes, the product is designed to greatly increase the ability of the marine industry to specify plastic pipes in builds and therefore realize the cost, time, space, weight and simplification benefits of the material.
Key to the new product’s capability is its patented dynamic axial restraint system, which locks plastic pipes together without the need for gluing, heat fusing, flanging or pipe inserts. The system has two pipe wall gripping rings that adapt to higher levels of load as pressure in coupled pipes increases. These rings rotate on the pipe surface under higher loads, increasing the area gripping the pipe and reinforcing the seal.
This design concept follows through into the pipe anchoring mechanism, which includes three anchor rings at staggered heights. A chamber between each ring allows the pipe wall to migrate around the area where each anchor ring engages with it. These features allow for a dynamic lock on the pipe, ensuring all rings are continuously in contact with the pipe wall, resulting in a hold that permanently locks the two pipes together.
According to the company, Plastlock could serve to enable design innovations. For example, it will allow tighter and neater pipework layouts that maximize space, particularly important on passenger ships. Pre-fabricated spool pieces, produced in factory conditions and joined together on site, can now be used to simplify builds. Very low or maintenance free pipe systems will also be more cost-effective to install. Plastlock is designed to work with a wide range of plastics used in piping, including Polyethylene, Polybutylene, Polypropylene, PVC-C, PVC-U and ABS. The range includes 15 different sized couplings, fitting pipes with outside diameters from 25mm to 315mm. Couplings to fit plastic pipes outside of the standard range can be manufactured to order. Plastlock is engineered to conform to WIS-4-24-01 and BS 851: 2103 standards. Minimum burst is four times working pressure. 
www.teekaycouplings.com

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