Design of crack arrestors for ultra high grade gas transmission pipelines: simulation of crack initiation, propagation and arrest

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-319
Author(s):  
F. Van den Abeele ◽  
M. Di Biagio ◽  
L. Amlung
Keyword(s):  
Crack Initiation ◽  
Crack Propagation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
Pipe Material ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Gas Pipelines ◽  
Ductile Crack ◽  
Reinforced Plastics ◽  
Four Point Bending

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.

Towards a Numerical Design Tool for Composite Crack Arrestors on High Pressure Gas Pipelines

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Van den Abeele ◽  
L. Amlung ◽  
M. Di Biagio ◽  
S. Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Steel Wire ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Tensile Tests ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Pipe Material ◽  
Gas Pipelines ◽  
Numerical Design

One of the major challenges in the design of ultra high grade (X100) high pressure gas pipelines is the identification of a reliable crack propagation strategy. Ductile fracture propagation is an event that involves the whole pipeline and all its components, including valves, fittings, flanges and bends. Recent research results have shown that the newly developed high strength large diameter gas pipelines, when operated at severe conditions (rich gas, low temperatures, high pressure), may not be able to arrest a running ductile crack through pipe material properties. Hence, the use of crack arrestors is required in the design 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. Steel wire wrappings, cast iron clamps or steel sleeves are commonly used non-integral solutions. Recently, composite crack arrestors have enjoyed increasing interest from the industry as a straightforward solution to stop running ductile cracks. A composite crack arrestor is made of (glass) fibres, dipped in a resin bath and wound onto the pipe wall in a variety of orientations. In this paper, the numerical design of composite crack arrestors will be presented. First, the properties of unidirectional glass fibre reinforced epoxy are measured and the micromechanic modelling of composite materials is addressed. Then, the in-use behaviour of pipe joints with composite crack arrestors is covered. Large-scale tensile tests and four point bending tests are performed and compared with finite element simulations. Subsequently, failure measures are introduced to predict the onset of composite material failure. At the end, the ability of composite crack arrestors to arrest a running fracture in a high pressure gas pipeline is assessed.

A Justification for Designing and Operating Pipelines Up to Stresses of 80% SMYS

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin McLamb ◽  
Phil Hopkins ◽  
Mark Marley ◽  
Maher Nessim
Keyword(s):  
Yield Strength ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
Pipe Material ◽  
Gas Pipelines ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Remote Locations ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Minimum Yield

Oil and gas majors are interested in several projects worldwide involving large diameter, long distance gas pipelines that pass through remote locations. Consequently, the majors are investigating the feasibility of operating pipelines of this type at stress levels up to and including 80% of the specified minimum yield strength (SMYS) of the pipe material. This paper summarises a study to investigate the impact upon safety, reliability and integrity of designing and operating pipelines to stresses up to 80% SMYS.

Application of High-Grade Steels to Onshore Natural Gas Pipelines Using Reliability-Based Design Method

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Zhou ◽  
Brian Rothwell ◽  
Wenxing Zhou ◽  
Maher Nessim
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Wall Thickness ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Gas Pipelines ◽  
Natural Gas Pipelines ◽  
Reliability Based Design ◽  
Design Factors

Two example onshore gas pipelines were designed using a reliability-based approach. The first example (1219 mm, 17.2 MPa) represents a high-pressure large-diameter pipeline; the second example has a smaller diameter (762 mm) and lower pressure (9.9 MPa). Three steel grades (X70, X80 and X100) were used to develop three design solutions for each example. The wall thickness-related life cycle costs of the designs were evaluated. The design outcomes show that the reliability targets for both examples can be met using X100 steels and high equivalent design factors (0.93 for the first example and 0.9 for the second example). Moreover, ruptures and excessive plastic deformation of a defect free pipe were found to be insignificant integrity threats even when the design uses X100 and relatively high equivalent design factors such as 0.85 and 0.9. The economic assessment results show that the X100 design is the most economical option for the high-pressure large-diameter example. However, using X100 does not show a clear economic advantage over using X80 for the second example mainly because the wall thickness for the design using X100 is governed by the maximum D/t ratio constraint. The study also demonstrates the advantages of the reliability-based approach as a valuable tool in assessing the feasibility and potential benefits of using high-grade steels on a pipeline project.

Simulation of Dynamic Crack Propagation and Arrest Using Various Types of Crack Arrestor

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Uddin ◽  
Gery Wilkowski
Keyword(s):  
Crack Propagation ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
Ductile Crack ◽  
Burst Test ◽  
Ductile Crack Growth ◽  
Diameter Pipe ◽  
Linepipe Steels

In linepipe steels, there has been a growing interest in using damage mechanics that provides physical models of the fracture process which are embedded into a two- or three-dimensional finite element (FE) model. Among the various damage models, the cohesive zone model (CZM) has recently been used to simulate the ductile crack growth behavior in linepipe steels because of its computational efficiency and it requires only two parameters which can be determined in experiments. While CZM is not yet to be used as predictive tool, but it has a great application in crack arrestor design as well as in providing insight to ductile crack propagation. In this paper, the authors have demonstrated some practical applications of CZM in linepipe steels. The CZM was used to simulate the ductile crack propagation in full-scale pipes which was able to capture the global deformation as well as the experimental crack speed. The model was then used to determine the effect of anchor blocks at the end of the pipe in a large diameter full-scale burst test. Later, the model was used to simulate two small diameter pipe tests with steel crack arrestors to mimic two arrestor cases with one showing crack propagation and the other showing crack arrest. The CZM model was also applied to demonstrate the circumferential ring-off behavior of a small diameter pipe test with rigid crack arrestor. The arrestor model was then extended to simulate a large diameter full scale Mojave burst test with “soft crack arrestor (SCA)”. A single element FE model was developed to verify the SCA material which was later extended with stain-based failure criteria. Finally, ductile crack growth in full-scale pipe with SCA was demonstrated to show that the FE CZM model can be used to optimize the design of SCA.

Numerical Simulation of Dynamic Ductile Fracture Propagation Using Cohesive Zone Modeling

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Do-Jun Shim ◽  
Gery Wilkowski ◽  
David Rudland ◽  
Brian Rothwell ◽  
James Merritt
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Crack Propagation ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Growth Model ◽  
Cohesive Zone ◽  
Zone Model ◽  
Pipe Material ◽  
Ductile Crack ◽  
Ductile Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Growth Model

This paper presents the development of a dynamic ductile crack growth model to simulate an axially running crack in a pipe by finite element analyses. The model was developed using the finite element (FE) program ABAQUS/Explicit. To simulate the ductile crack propagation, a cohesive zone model was employed. Moreover, the interaction between the gas decompression and the structural deformation was simulated by using an approximate three-dimensional pressure decay relationship from experimental results. The dynamic ductile crack growth model was employed to simulate 152.4 mm (6-inch) diameter pipe tests, where the measured fracture speed was used to calibrate the cohesive model parameters. From the simulation, the CTOA values were calculated during the dynamic ductile crack propagation. In order to validate the calculated CTOA value, drop-weight tear test (DWTT) experiments were conducted for the pipe material, where the CTOA was measured with high-speed video during the impact test. The calculated and measured CTOA values showed reasonable agreement. Finally, the developed model was employed to investigate the effect of pipe diameter on fracture speed for small-diameter pipes.

Further Numerical Studies on Dynamic Circumferential Crack Propagation in a Large Pipe

1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-201
Author(s):  
H. Awaji ◽  
A. S. Kobayashi ◽  
A. F. Emery ◽  
W. J. Love ◽  
M. Perl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Finite Difference ◽  
Crack Propagation ◽  
Uniaxial Tension ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Rotary Inertia ◽  
Ductile Crack ◽  
Numerical Studies ◽  
Circumferential Crack ◽  
Scale Yielding

Dynamic ductile crack propagation analyses of pre-existing circumferential through cracks in a large pipe subjected to uniaxial tension were conducted by a finite difference dynamic shell code. These dynamic results together with the results of previous dynamic ductile circumferential crack propagation suggest that crack propagation in the presence of large-scale yielding is controlled mainly by the rotary inertia of the two fracturing pipe segments.

Two-Parameter Criteria for Ductile Crack Initiation and Propagation in High-Grade Line Pipes

2007 ◽  
Vol 348-349 ◽  
pp. 493-496
Author(s):  
Yoichi Kayamori ◽  
P.S.J. Crofton ◽  
Roderick A. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Crack Initiation ◽  
Plastic Strain ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Equivalent Plastic Strain ◽  
Stress Triaxiality ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Ductile Crack ◽  
Force Curve ◽  
Crack Driving Force ◽  
The Relationship

Full-scale burst test data of high-grade line pipes for high-pressure gas pipelines were referred to, and 3-D elastic-plastic finite element analysis was carried out using the test data for the calculation of fracture parameters. Ductile crack initiation was evaluated by the intersection of a toughness locus and a crack driving force curve, where the toughness locus was indicated by the relationship between the critical equivalent plastic strain and the stress triaxiality, and the crack driving force curve was shown by a history of the equivalent plastic strain and the stress triaxiality at characteristic distance. In addition, ductile crack rapid propagation was assessed by the relationship between the critical CTOA and the global constraint factor, where the critical CTOA remained almost constant because of high constraint.

Crack Initiation and Propagation Clad Pipe Girth Weld Flaws

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Carlucci ◽  
Nicola Bonora ◽  
Andrew Ruggiero ◽  
Gianluca Iannitti ◽  
Gabriel Testa
Keyword(s):  
Crack Initiation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Damage Mechanics ◽  
High Fracture Toughness ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Equivalent Material ◽  
Ductile Crack ◽  
Crack Initiation And Propagation ◽  
Brittle Ductile Transition ◽  
Initiation And Propagation

At present, design standards and prescriptions do not provide specific design routes to perform engineering criticality assessment (ECA) of bimetallic girth welds. Although the authors has shown the possibility to implement ECA in accordance with available prescriptions of such flawed weld joint following the equivalent material method (EMM), when dealing with ductile crack initiation and propagation — as a result of the large scale yielding occurring at the crack tip for high fracture toughness material operating in the brittle-ductile transition region — fracture mechanics concepts such as JIc or critical CTOD may breakdown. In this work, the possibility to accurately determine the condition for ductile crack growth initiation and propagation in bi-metallic girth weld flaws using continuum damage mechanics is shown. Here, the base metal as well as the clad and the weld metal have been characterized to determine damage model parameters. Successively, the geometry transferability of model parameters has been validated. Finally, the model has been used to predict crack initiation for two bi-material interface circumferential crack configurations.

Modelling of Slant Failure Using Small Size Specimen

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Thibaux ◽  
Jeroen Van Wittenberghe
Keyword(s):  
Crack Initiation ◽  
Crack Propagation ◽  
Charpy Specimen ◽  
The Finite Element Method ◽  
Ductile Crack ◽  
Small Size Specimen ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Energy Dissipated ◽  
Small Shear ◽  
Combined Mode

The instability of a pipeline crack eventually leads to brittle or ductile crack propagation. The resistance to ductile crack propagation is assessed by the energy dissipated in the CVN test. However the Charpy specimen exhibits mainly mode I failure, with no small shear lips, while real failure is a combined mode often described as slant failure. In the present investigation, instrumented Charpy tests with nominal and reduced thickness down to 2.5 mm are carried out. Instrumented Battelle drop weight tear tests where also performed with nominal and reduced thickness, in order to vary the ligament versus thickness ratio. The results of the Charpy tests are simulated by the finite element method. The results are then discussed in terms of energy dissipated during crack initiation and crack propagation. It is shown that by reducing the size of the Charpy specimen, slant failure is promoted, which results in a decrease of the specific energy absorbed. However, most of the difference of absorbed energy is in the crack initiation mode, and only marginally in crack propagation. Consequently, the fraction of the total energy dissipated in crack propagation is increased by reducing the sample thickness, making it a possible tool to assess the resistance of a material to crack propagation, provided that brittle fracture is avoided and no separation is present.

Application of Equivalent Damage Concept to Evaluation of Ductile Cracking for Linepipe Under Large Scale Seismic Loading

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitsuru Ohata ◽  
Masao Toyoda
Keyword(s):  
Cyclic Loading ◽  
Crack Initiation ◽  
Safety Assessment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Seismic Loading ◽  
Steel Pipe ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Ductile Crack ◽  
Hardening Material ◽  
Cyclic Straining

A large scale seismic loading sometimes produces local buckling in onshore or offshore linepipe and subsequent loading can lead to ductile cracking followed by ductile failure. It is important to assess the ductile crack initiation of linepipe subjected to a large scale cyclic straining induced by seismic loading for safety assessment of linepipe. This paper is mainly paid attention to the applicability of the damage concept proposed by authors for evaluation of ductile cracking of steel pipe under large scale cyclic loading. The damage concept is based on the “two-parameter criterion”, using the effective plastic strain, which is taken into account mechanical and microstructural aspects of Bauschinger effect of steel. The transferability of small scale tensile test results to the assessment of ductile crack initiation of steel pipe under seismic loading by using the effective damage concept is verified by conducting cyclic bending tests for straight pipe with initial deflection. The effective damage strain under cyclic loading, which is derived from the evolution of back stress, was calculated by FE-analysis employing a combined (isotropic/kinematic) hardening material model. It is found that the critical safety assessment of ductile crack initiation can be conducted based on the strain-based criterion in accordance with the proposed damage concept.

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