Growth of Surface-Type Stress Corrosion Cracks in Near-Neutral pH Environments Under Disbonded Coatings

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afolabi T. Egbewande ◽  
AbdoulMajid Eslami ◽  
Weixing Chen ◽  
Robert Worthingham ◽  
Richard Kania ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Crack Propagation ◽  
Stress Corrosion ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Preliminary Test ◽  
Surface Type ◽  
Operating Variables ◽  
Neutral Ph ◽  
Growth Crack

Near-neutral pH stress corrosion cracking (NNPHSCC), which occurs when ground water penetrates under the pipe coating, causes longitudinal cracks to develop on the surface of pipelines. Such cracks grow over time and can ultimately lead to pipeline failure. NNPHSCC is currently managed by in-line inspection or hydrostatic testing for oil and gas pipelines respectively. These procedures are enormously expensive and have to be repeated at predetermined intervals. Re-inspection intervals are currently determined by empirical models, which have been found rather imprecise. A major flaw in currently applied models is that they assume that once a NNPHSCC crack is formed, it grows at a constant rate that is independent of pipeline operating variables and both pre- and in-service history of the pipeline material. This is not necessarily true as pipeline history, the nature of the service environment and operating factors, among several other factors, have a strong influence on the rate of NNPHSCC crack propagation. Most existing models also treat NNPHSCC cracks as long through thickness cracks rather than surface type cracks typically observed in the field. This research proposes to provide an empirical model that more accurately predicts the growth rate of near-neutral pH SCC cracks in near-neutral pH environments by studying the growth rate of surface type flaws while also accounting for the influence of operating factors, environmental factors, coating disbondment and cathodic protection on the rate of crack propagation. This paper reports some preliminary test results obtained using a long specimen with three semi elliptical surface flaws located in three reduced sections to simulate field observed NNPHSCC cracks. Preliminary results suggest that: 1) crack grows much faster at the open mouth, which was attributed to hydrogen effects; 2) crack dormancy can occur under certain combined mechanical factors; 3) although the benign mechanical loading cannot lead to a direct crack growth (crack dormancy), it causes damage to the crack tip, which makes the crack more susceptible to crack growth upon a more aggressive condition is encountered.

Application of Load Sequence to Control Crack Growth in Steel Pipelines Under Near Neutral pH SCC

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olayinka Tehinse ◽  
Weixing Chen ◽  
Jenny Been ◽  
Karina Chevil ◽  
Sean Keane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Crack Growth Rate ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Pressure Fluctuations ◽  
Operating Pressure ◽  
Variable Amplitude ◽  
Neutral Ph ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Load Sequence

Pipelines are designed to operate below a maximum operating pressure in service. However, there are pressure fluctuations during operation. The presence of pressure fluctuations creates a drive for crack growth in steel pipes. In order to prevent catastrophic failure of pipelines, there is need for better understanding of the contribution of pressure fluctuations to crack growth rate in steel pipelines. Analysis of pressure fluctuation data in oil and gas pipelines shows that there are different types of fluctuations in a pipe due to friction loss with distance from the pump or compressor station. All these fluctuation types show a form of variable amplitude loading classified in this research as underload, mean load and overload. Studies of some structural systems shows that underload can cause acceleration of crack growth while retardation of crack growth is observed after an overload. This research aims to apply pressure fluctuations to manage integrity of steel pipelines through a novel approach of load sequence involving underload and overload in near neutral pH environment. Clear knowledge of the effect of load interaction involving load sequence of underload and overload is vital to control crack growth in steel pipelines under near neutral pH environment. The result of crack growth rate under different load sequence on X65 steel indicate that increase in overload ratio of 2, 3 and 4 caused an increase in crack growth rate of 1.68E−3, 1.89E−3 and 2.31E−3 mm/block respectively. These results are compared with results from other tests under variable amplitude without load sequence. Analyses were carried out on the morphology of the crack tip and the fracture surface after the test.

Full-Scale Stress Corrosion Crack Growth Testing of an X70 Spiral-Welded Pipe in Near-Neutral pH Soil Environment

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jidong Kang ◽  
Darren Bibby ◽  
Romain Blanchard ◽  
Wenyue Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Stress Corrosion ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Base Metal ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
In Situ Monitoring ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Neutral Ph ◽  
Testing Facility ◽  
Welded Pipe

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in near-neutral pH environment remains a major concern for high pressure pipelines transporting oil and gas in Canada since its first discovery in 1980s. A variety of laboratory experiments and models have been developed to address different aspects of this complex problem. Full-scale pipe SCC testing using soil box that mimics the condition in the field can directly assess crack growth in terms of pressure level, range of pressure fluctuation, soil conditions, etc. This type of test also offers the most direct validation of SCC models. A state-of-the-art full-scale SCC pipe testing facility has been established at CanmetMATERIALS Hamilton Laboratory. The facility includes a new hydraulic power unit (HPU), an upgraded 500 kN fatigue frame, and a new 2000 psi (14MPa) pressurization system. In addition, a 24-channel direct current potential drop (DCPD) unit has been refurnished for in-situ monitoring of crack growth. The full-scale pipe SCC testing facility has been successfully used to measure crack growth in an X-70 (Grade 483) large diameter (914 mm or 36” OD) spiral seam-welded pipe. Six axial cracks were made using saw cutting and fatigue pre-cracking in the base metal and across the spiral-weld metal. All cracks were buried under two types of soil boxes with soil obtained from a near-neutral pH SCC pipeline failure site mixed with distilled water or NS4 solution. The pH of the solution was maintained between 6.9 and 7.2 throughout the testing. Several loading conditions were tested and DCPD was used to monitor SCC growth rate during all the tests. No detectable growth was observed in the cracks of weld area during all the tests mainly due to over-matching strength. Crack growth was also not detected for the base metal until the maximum pressure was raised up to 95% SMYS with R = 0.7. The threshold of the range of stress intensity factor, (ΔK)th for SCC is thus estimated to be between 11.53 to 13.52 MPa m1/2. The measured average crack growth rate was 5.98×10−7 mm/s.

Modeling the Interactions of Hydrogen, Stress and Dissolution in Near-Neutral pH Stress Corrosion Cracking of Pipelines

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Y. Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Stress Corrosion ◽  
Dissolution Rate ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Anodic Dissolution ◽  
Hydrogen Concentration ◽  
Stress Corrosion Cracking ◽  
Crack Tip ◽  
Corrosion Cracking ◽  
Neutral Ph ◽  
Ph Stress

A thermodynamic model was developed to determine the interactions of hydrogen, stress and anodic dissolution at the crack-tip during near-neutral pH stress corrosion cracking in pipelines. By analyzing the free-energy of the steel in the presence and absence of hydrogen and stress, it is demonstrated that a synergism of hydrogen and stress promotes the cracking of the steel. The enhanced hydrogen concentration in the stressed steel significantly accelerates the crack growth. The quantitative prediction of the crack growth rate in near-neutral pH environment is based on the determination of the effect of hydrogen on the anodic dissolution rate in the absence of stress, the effect of stress on the anodic dissolution rate in the absence of hydrogen, the synergistic effect of hydrogen and stress on the anodic dissolution rate at the crack-tip and the effect of the variation of hydrogen concentration on the anodic dissolution rate.

scholarly journals Interaction of Cyclic Loading (Low-Cyclic Fatigue) with Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) Growth Rate

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Rehmat Bashir ◽  
He Xue ◽  
Rui Guo ◽  
Yueqi Bi ◽  
Muhammad Usman
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Stress Corrosion ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Stress Corrosion Cracking ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Cyclic Fatigue ◽  
Joint Effect ◽  
Corrosion Cracking

The structural integrity analysis of nuclear power plants (NPPs) is an essential procedure since the age of NPPs is increasing constantly while the number of new NPPs is still limited. Low-cyclic fatigue (LCF) and stress corrosion cracking (SSC) are the two main causes of failure in light-water reactors (LWRs). In the last few decades, many types of research studies have been conducted on these two phenomena separately, but the joint effect of these two mechanisms on the same crack has not been discussed yet though these two loads exist simultaneously in the LWRs. SCC is mainly a combination of the loading, the corrosive medium, and the susceptibility of materials while the LCF depends upon the elements such as compression, moisture, contact, and weld. As it is an attempt to combine SCC and LCF, this research focuses on the joint effect of SCC and LCF loading on crack propagation. The simulations are carried out using extended finite element method (XFEM) separately, for the SCC and LCF, on an identical crack. In the case of SCC, da/dt(mm/sec) is converted into da/dNScc (mm/cycle), and results are combined at the end. It has been observed that the separately calculated results for SCC da/dNScc and LCF da/dNm of crack growth rate are different from those of joint/overall effect,  da/dNom. By applying different SCC loads, the overall crack growth is measured as SCC load becomes the main cause of failure in LWRs in some cases particularly in the presence of residual stresses.

Prestrain Influence on Fatigue Crack Propagation in a 304L Stainless Steel

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kokleang Vor ◽  
Catherine Gardin ◽  
Christine Sarrazin-Baudoux ◽  
Jean Petit ◽  
Claude Amzallag
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Crack Growth Rate ◽  
Crack Propagation ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Fatigue Crack Propagation ◽  
Crack Closure ◽  
Threshold Region ◽  
304L Stainless Steel

The scope of this study is to investigate the effect of tensile prestrain on crack growth behavior in a 304L stainless steel. Fatigue crack propagation tests were performed on single-edge notched tension (SENT) raw specimens (0% of prestrain) and on prestrained specimens (2% and 10%). On one hand, it is found that the different levels of prestrain exhibit no significant influence on crack propagation in the high range of Stress Intensity Factor (SIF), where there is no detectable crack closure. On the other hand, a clear effect of prestrain on crack growth rate can be observed in the near threshold region where closure is detected. Thus, it can be concluded that the prestrain mainly affects the crack growth rate through its influence on the crack closure.

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