How to Coat Pipe Bends

 Flexclad Heat Shrinkable Tape for Pipe Bends (and more!)

 A roll of Flexclad 50x1500/165

     Flexclad heat shrinkable tape is used to prevent corrosion of pipe bends in distribution networks.  The tape consists of a radiation crosslinked polyolefin backing coated with a specially formulated viscoelastic adhesive.  The tape is wrapped around the preheated pipe.  A separate closure is used to fix the tape end to the pipe surface.  Because of its flexibility, Flexclad tape conforms to the shape of the pipe surface.  When heated, the backing shrinks and forces the adhesive to flow and fill the weld area and other surface irregularities.  

    The shrinking tape exerts force on the sealant, which results in a perfectly tight seal.  Flexclad tape has an additional advantage of reduced craft-sensitivity when installed on site.  When cooled the products bonds extremely well to the steel pipe, to its own backing at the overlap, and to various pipe coatings.  Flexclad tape resists abrasion, impact and penetration and has a high resistance to cathodic disbondment.  Flexlad does not require a primer of any kind (though if you chose to use it with an S1301M Epoxy Primer - some technical values will be even better).

    Flexclad is sold in rolls that are 50 feet long.  It is stocked and available in widths of 2", 3" and 4".  It can be used for bends, for some fittings, for field joints on small pipe and just many other applications.  Call today to discuss what Flexclad can do for you!

How Do I Coat Pipe Bends?

Corrosion Prevention on Pipe Bends

          Coating a pipe bend can be a challenging application.  Sometimes, standard heat shrink sleeves will not work without some amount of skill in your installer.  Instead of installing normal 11", 17", 24" or 34" wide shrink sleeves and lobster tailing them (as you would here:)

 

We find it is often simpler, and more technically sound to coat those bends using a heat shrinkable, spiral wrapped product.  Good news, we have a couple of options for that application:

 

First - you can use our WPC100M Tape product.  Made from our normal WPC100M, this product is easy to install, forgiving in terms of surface prep and has a long successful use history.  Available in just about any custom width; WPC100M Tape is often the ideal choice for pipelines that will operate at elevated temperatures. 

 

A second option is our Flexclad, heat shrinkable tape.  Flexclad doesn't have quite as high of a temperature rating as the WPC100M tape, it is rated for use at 50C; but as a specially designed heat shrinkable tape, it utilizes a lower shrink ratio backing with a hybrid mastic/hot melt adhesive sealant to form a homogenous coating over the length of your bend.  Sold in 50 feet long rolls, Flexclad also has quite a long use successful use history.

 

In both cases, we have material on the ground, ready to ship at a moments notice.  We understand that pipeline coatings are often the very last things purchased for a pipeline project, and we keep stock accordingly!