The €1.1 million HOBAS TechCenter was inaugurated on 30 April after a year of construction work.
The laboratory is certified to international standards such as ISO/IEC 17025 (by TÜV SÜD) and is authorised to carry out product tests to prove various norm conformances for all HOBAS organisations. Tests which can be performed include stiffness, ring stiffness, abrasion, burst, strain corrosion, creep, cyclic internal pressure loading, and longitudinal tensile stress tests under temperatures up to 65°C.
Couplings and fittings can also be tested.
“There is no certification centre that is able to test 4 m diameter pipes," explains Thomas Simoner, the HOBAS group’s Head of Quality Management, Raw Material and Product Development. "We can now conduct these tests in-house and if necessary the certification authorities can monitor us via camera.”
The HOBAS Group, headquartered in Klagenfurt, Austria, produces and markets centrifugally cast GRP (CC-GRP) pipe systems for potable water, sewer, drainage, hydropower and industrial applications.
