Stainless Steel Piping Survives Earthquake Shocks

Earthquake-resistance tests have shown that stainless steel piping systems (joined by mechanical couplings) exhibit good air tightness and do not leak.

At a full-scale earthquake-testing facility, nicknamed “E-Defense,” the tests were jointly conducted by Japan Stainless Steel Association (JSSA), Building Research Institute, an Incorporated Administrative Agency, and National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention to evaluate the earthquake resistance performance of building materials and components.

The evaluation entailed building a 21-story “skeleton” high-rise. Between the first and fourth floors, a system was built to simulate earthquake shocks on floors 5 to 21. The power of the simulated shocks was based on the strength of earthquakes anticipated to occur in the Tokai and Tonankai regions of Japan.

JSSA is working on the technical development for super durable all stainless piping system, and this development includes a research on earthquake resistance tests for stainless steel piping system for 200-year housing. Accordingly the test results greatly help JSSA to promote a broad 3-year program for expanding the life of Japanese residential high-rises. (See the March issue.)


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Nickel, vol. 23, no. 4, october 2008