Agriculture · Africa distribution
UV-stabilised PP and a thickened barb root cut field returns 92% across an irrigation season.
Irrigation tees cracking within a season in the field — a warranty problem masquerading as a price problem.
Specified a UV-stabilised PP, thickened the barb root, and ran a heat-and-UV soak on T1 samples before serial release.
Field returns effectively stopped. The line now runs continuous through the irrigation season on reserved press-hours.
Cracks started at the barb root — the thinnest section, the highest hoop stress, and the surface most exposed to UV. Nothing failed on arrival; everything failed in month five.
A UV-stabilised PP grade plus a generous radius and 0.6 mm more wall at the root. Changing either one alone had already been tried by the incumbent; changing both moved the failure mode out of the part.
T1 samples went through a heat-and-UV soak with burst testing at intervals. Serial release only after the curve flattened — then reserved press-hours for the whole irrigation season.
Every line was measured on the same programme, before and after the change.
| Before | After | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field returns | 6.4% | 0.5% | −92% |
| Barb root wall | 1.8 mm | 2.4 mm | +33% |
| Outdoor life | < 1 season | 5 yr target | +5× |
| Burst pressure | 8.2 bar | 11.6 bar | +41% |
| Warranty claims | Season-driven | Negligible | −92% |
| Season coverage | Spot orders | Reserved hours | 100% |
“We stopped budgeting for replacements and started budgeting for growth.”
Send a drawing or a sample. You get a DFM read, a tool plan and a cycle estimate — not a brochure.
