Something new every day...
Sep. 25th, 2008 03:28 pmA pair of terms popped up yesterday that puzzled me. Both had to do with testing process pipelines. For a while, they made a few swipes with picks and shovels at the back of my mind, but now they've shown up again and started a major mining operation, so it's time to hunker down and figure out what they really mean.
One is "испытание на плотность"; the other, "испынание на герметичность."
"Плотность" usually means "density," but when you fill a pipe with water under pressure and check to see if anything drips out, you're not testing for density. Such a test is a leak test, and indeed, "плотность" can be used in the sense of "tightness" (as in "leak tightness") or "the quality of being leakproof." So there's no problem there; leak testing is pretty common in the engineering business.
Except that about the only meaning for "герметичность" in this context is... "tightness" (as in "leak tightness") or "the quality of being leakproof."
See the problem? They both seem to be "leak tests."
And it's not a case of synonymous usage; the text is referring to two distinctly separate tests (two-thirds of a trio, the third being a material strength test).
After noodling around for about 20 minutes and looking at text that assumes the reader just intuitively knows what's what in the discussion, I ran across the following in a fire safety standard:
It was as if someone had thrown a switch.
Apparently, an "испытание на плотность" for piping refers to a test to make sure the pipe hardware doesn't leak (i.e., the pipes have only two holes, one at each end). And consequently, an "испынание на герметичность" tests for leakage at the places where pipes connect to each other (i.e., at the joints).
I think I will call these "pipe leak test" and "joint leak test" (unless I find something better, which I really don't have time for right now).
Cheers...
One is "испытание на плотность"; the other, "испынание на герметичность."
"Плотность" usually means "density," but when you fill a pipe with water under pressure and check to see if anything drips out, you're not testing for density. Such a test is a leak test, and indeed, "плотность" can be used in the sense of "tightness" (as in "leak tightness") or "the quality of being leakproof." So there's no problem there; leak testing is pretty common in the engineering business.
Except that about the only meaning for "герметичность" in this context is... "tightness" (as in "leak tightness") or "the quality of being leakproof."
See the problem? They both seem to be "leak tests."
And it's not a case of synonymous usage; the text is referring to two distinctly separate tests (two-thirds of a trio, the third being a material strength test).
After noodling around for about 20 minutes and looking at text that assumes the reader just intuitively knows what's what in the discussion, I ran across the following in a fire safety standard:
Проверку на прочность, плотность материала и герметичность соединений всасывающих головок ... проводят на гидравлическом испытательном стенде.Aha!
Suction nozzle strength, плотность of material, and герметичность of joints ... are tested on a hydraulic test stand. [my translation]
It was as if someone had thrown a switch.
Apparently, an "испытание на плотность" for piping refers to a test to make sure the pipe hardware doesn't leak (i.e., the pipes have only two holes, one at each end). And consequently, an "испынание на герметичность" tests for leakage at the places where pipes connect to each other (i.e., at the joints).
I think I will call these "pipe leak test" and "joint leak test" (unless I find something better, which I really don't have time for right now).
Cheers...