A series of buckling tests were conducted on internally pressurized, 52-inch OD high strength pipe. The tests were performed in C-FER's Universal Testing System (UTS), a 3.4 million pound servo-hydraulically controlled tension and compression testing machine.

In the test setup, shown in the adjacent photo, the UTS load was transferred to two 1.7 million pound load points by a load distributing beam. The floor of the laboratory was used to react the load, completing a four point bending arrangement. The middle test section was 156 inches long (3 diameters for the 52-inch pipe). The setup was designed to accommodate a bending strain of up to 1.5%, allowing all pipe specimens to be bent to their compressive strain capacity and beyond.

Specimen bending strain and curvature were measured using three independent methods: strain gauges to provide direct but local strain measurement; three displacement transducers to measure vertical deflection from which bending strain can be calculated; and clinometers, or angle measuring devices, to measure rotations from which bending strain can be calculated. UTS load and displacement was also measured. Displacement transducers monitored moment arm changes, a pressure transducer measured internal pressure, and other instruments monitored test frame behaviour.