Ductile Crack Initiation of Structural Steel under Monotonic Loading

One of the major challenges in the design of ultra high grade (X100) gas pipelines is the identification of areliable crack propagation strategy. Recent research results have shown that the newly developed highstrength and large diameter gas pipelines, when operated at severe conditions, may not be able to arrest arunning ductile crack through pipe material properties. Hence, the use of crack arrestors is required in thedesign of safe and reliable pipeline systems.A conventional crack arrestor can be a high toughness pipe insert, or a local joint with higher wall thickness.According to experimental results of full-scale burst tests, composite crack arrestors are one of the mostpromising technologies. Such crack arrestors are made of fibre reinforced plastics which provide the pipewith an additional hoop constraint. In this paper, numerical tools to simulate crack initiation, propagationand arrest in composite crack arrestors are introduced.First, the in-use behaviour of composite crack arrestors is evaluated by means of large scale tensile testsand four point bending experiments. The ability of different stress based orthotropic failure measures topredict the onset of material degradation is compared. Then, computational fracture mechanics is applied tosimulate ductile crack propagation in high pressure gas pipelines, and the corresponding crack growth inthe composite arrestor. The combination of numerical simulation and experimental research allows derivingdesign guidelines for composite crack arrestors.

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A Strain Based Criterion to Evaluate the Tensile Capacity of Transmission Pipelines Under Large Scale Cyclic Bending

Volume 2: Pipeline Safety Management Systems; Project Management, Design, Construction, and Environmental Issues; Strain Based Design; Risk and Reliability; Northern Offshore and Production Pipelines ◽

10.1115/ipc2018-78103 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Y. Andrés Plata Uribe ◽

Claudio Ruggieri

Keyword(s):

Structural Steel ◽

Large Scale ◽

Axial Loading ◽

Tensile Failure ◽

Void Coalescence ◽

Ductile Crack ◽

Tubular Specimen ◽

Pipe Surface ◽

Cracking Behavior ◽

Tension Tests

This study explores the capability of a computational cell methodology and a stress-modified, critical strain (SMCS) criterion for void coalescence implemented into a large scale, 3-D finite element framework to model ductile fracture behavior in tensile specimens and in damaged pipelines. In particular, the cell methodology provides a convenient approach for ductile crack extension suitable for large scale numerical analyses which includes a damage criterion and a microstructural length scale over which damage occurs. A series of tension tests conducted on notched tensile specimens with different notch radius for a carbon steel pipe provides the stress-strain response of the tested structural steel from which the cell parameters and the SMCS criterion are calibrated. To investigate ductile cracking behavior in damaged pipelines, full scale cyclic bend tests were performed on a 165 mm O.D tubular specimen with 11 mm wall thickness made of a pipeline steel with very similar mechanical characteristics to the structural steel employed in the tension tests. The tubular specimen was initially subjected to indentation by 3-point bend loading followed by a compressive axial loading to generate large localized buckling in the dented region. The axial loading was then reversed to a tension loading applied until a visible ductile crack could be observed in the pipe surface. These exploratory analyses predict the tensile failure load for the pipe specimen associated with ductile crack initiation in the highly damaged area inside the denting and buckling zone which is in good agreement with experimental measurements.

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