Stress corrosion cracks in pipelines: Characteristics and detection considerations. Topical report, 1994-1995

Technical Report · Sat Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:104254

Bubenik, T A; Stephens, D R; Leis, B N; Eiber, R J

The report presents an overview of stress corrosion cracking in pipelines with a particular emphasis on aspects that are relevant to the development of in-line inspection tools and interpretation of inspection signals. The report also presents a discussion of field experience to assist a pipeline operator in assessing the likelihood of cracking on a given line segment. The severity of stress corrosion cracking is a function of crack depth, length, separation distance, and pipeline operation conditions. In-line inspection systems should detect and characterize all individual cracks that could lead to failure. Current prototype tools and inspection systems being developed are not accurate enough to accomplish this goal. Inspection requriements for stress corrosion cracking will vary with the wide range of cracks and regions of sparse and/or dense cracking that can exist in pipelines. To enhance pipeline system integrity, further research is need on inspection systems for stress corrosion cracking and on the mechanisms and conditions under which the cracks grow and coalesce.

• Research Organization: Battelle, Columbus, OH (United States)
• OSTI ID: 104254
• Report Number(s): PB--95-239125/XAB; CNN: Contract GRI-5093-271-2691
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CRACKS
DETECTION
NATURAL GAS
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
PIPELINES
STRESS CORROSION