When a bridge pier is reinforced or repaired by wrapping a reinforcement around the pier, a waterproof sheet having a sufficient flexibility to attach to and cover the interface between the pier and the reinforcement in a liquid-tight manner is useful. The waterproof sheet is attached to the interface between the pier and the reinforcement to prevent water from penetrating into the interface for thereby preventing the reinforcement from deterioration.

A sterile connection device includes first and second carriages. The first carriage defines a first portion of a proximal slot and a first portion of a distal slot, while the second carriage defines second portions of the proximal and distal slots. A controller executes a sterile connection procedure in which a solid cutting blade is heated, followed by the heated blade being moved to a cutting position to cut sealed proximal and distal tubes received by the slots. The second carriage moves proximally or distally with respect to the first carriage so as to align the cut ends of the tubes. The heated blade then moves out of the cutting position, followed by the first carriage moving toward the second carriage so as to press the cut ends of the tubes into contact with each other so as to sterilely connect the cut ends and define a joined tube.

The invention relates to a modification process for modifying a biaxially oriented pipe, comprising a) providing a biaxially oriented pipe made by stretching a tube made of a thermoplastic polymer composition in the axial direction and in the peripheral direction, b) placing an insert within an end portion of the pipe, wherein the outer periphery of the cross section of the insert substantially matches the inner periphery of the cross section of the pipe and c) heating the end portion such that the end portion axially shrinks while the inner periphery of the cross section of the end portion is substantially maintained, to obtain a modified biaxially oriented pipe with a thickened end portion.

A method of directly joining a polymer to a metal along a joint interface through the formation of C—O-M chemical bonds, where M represents an element in the metal to be joined. The method includes heating the metal to a predetermined temperature above a glass transition temperature of the polymer and less than a flash ignition temperature of the polymer and less than a metal melting temperature of the metal; physically contacting at least one of the metal and the polymer; and applying compression pressure to the joint interface of the metal and the polymer when the metal is above the glass transition temperature of the polymer and less than the flash ignition temperature of the polymer and less than the metal melting temperature of the metal to generate intimate atomic contact between the metal and the polymer to create C—O-M chemical bonds between the metal and the polymer.

The disclosure relates to a pipe joint applicator with a control device and a method for producing a joint between a first pipe element and a second pipe element. The pipe joint applicator with a control device thereby detects actual process parameters via means for actual value detecting. The pipe joint applicator with a control device and the method determines therefrom the target process parameters for process control means for controlling the process parameters to be delivered to a pipe joint to be made. The pipe joint applicator with a control device optionally compares at least one actual value of the process parameters to at least one target process parameter and, in the event of deviation from at least one tolerance value range, issues an alarm to the user and/or generates an error protocol.

A method keeps a voltage or a current constant during a welding process of an electrofusion fitting. The method includes: connecting an extension cable between a connection cable of a welding power supply and the electrofusion fitting to be welded; detecting the extension cable by the welding power supply; detecting and recording the electrofusion fitting to be welded and its data by the welding power supply; autonomously supplying the current or the voltage with the welding power supply; and autonomously regulating the current or the voltage based upon the detection of the connected extension cable and a resulting resistance due to the connected extension cable. The current or the voltage is adjusted such that the current or the voltage remains constant during the welding of the electrofusion fitting.

Described is a heating device for thermally connecting a pipe, which has a first plastic material, to a bushing, which has a second plastic material, and which surrounds at least a section of the pipe, wherein an inductively heatable heating means is located between the pipe and the bushing and/or integrated in the pipe and/or the bushing. The heating device has a coil arrangement, which is excitable by a generator, and which has a first coil, which has at least one complete winding within a first cross-sectional area, and a second coil, which is electrically coupled to the first coil, and which has at least one complete winding within a second cross-sectional area. The first cross-sectional area is different from the second cross-sectional area. Furthermore, a heating system having such a heating device as well as a method for thermally connecting a pipe to a bushing are described.

A duct that, in cross section, has one or more rounded portions is disclosed together with a method and a machine for producing it. The duct can be made from rigid foam panels with a facing on at east one side of the panels. A crimping element is used to form several substantially parallel indentations or crimps on a faced side of a panel, without breaching the facing, so that the crimped panel can be manipulated to form a section of duct with the crimps extending longitudinally. Depending on the number of crimps, the duct will appear more or less round in cross section although the crimped foam panels can be manipulated to have cross sections of different shapes such as oval. Adjacent duct sections may be joined, for example, with tape or bands, several of which are described.

A device for welding thermoplastic tubes to a welding method, and to a welding knife. The device is provided for welding thermoplastic tubes, wherein the tubes are placed into tube holders and squeezed with the aid of tube clamps. A welding knife is moved between the first and the second tube holder and severs the tubes in the process. Cut ends and residual ends are thereby produced. The cut ends are aligned with one another by a relative movement of one tube holder with respect to the other tube holder and, by a horizontal movement of the two tube holders, are welded simultaneously to form continuous tubes.

An optimized thread profile (140) for joining composite materials is presented. This thread profile (140) maintains a certain material strength when used as part of a composite threaded joint (101). The thread profile (140) comprises a repeating pattern of four components: a crest region (150), a first flank (162), a root region (170) and a second flank (164). The thread profile (140) is symmetrical, that is, the dimensions of the four components do not change throughout the length of the thread profile. The crest (152) has a flat profile and the root (172) has a rounded profile. When a shaft (120) is affixed to a joining shaft (110) using this optimized thread profile (140), the flat profiles of the crest (152) of the shaft (120) and corresponding rounded profiles of the root (172) of the joining shaft (110) create a gap to accommodate a substance such as an adhesive or a lubricant. Similarly, the flat profiles of the crest (152) of the joining shaft (110) and corresponding rounded profiles of the root (172) of the shaft (120) create a gap to accommodate a substance.