Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) in Copper Piping for Domestic/HVAC Heating and Cooling Systems

Abstract

Abstract Copper piping systems for HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) are used to transport heating and cooling water in high rise buildings. Commercial and residential plumbing has a design life that must be specified with respect to the water quality parameters associated with the geographic location. Stress corrosion cracking has been identified as one of the failure mechanism normally occurring in the infancy of the life of the systems that is highly associated with contamination. A metallurgical analysis of the characteristics of typical cold worked tubing, used in copper piping, with insulation, contamination and crack morphology are presented.