Pipeline defect evaluation
- GDS Engineers, Baytown, TX (United States)
During their design life, pipelines may degrade and lose strength. The degradation may be due to construction defects, corrosion, erosion, stress corrosion cracking (SCC), fatigue, creep, brittle fracture or freeze damage. The defect may lead to structural failure. Pipeline flaws can be measured or detected using nondestructive evaluation (NDE) such as ultrasonic, eddy current, dye penetrant, radiographic or magnetic particle methods. In fracture mechanics, the actual measured flaw size or assumed initial flaw size, based on the type of NDE method used, is used to evaluate the structural integrity and to determine the remaining life. The measured thickness, retirement thickness and corrosion rate per year are used to calculate the remaining life. This paper will cover an example using NASA`s FLAGRO software to evaluate flaw growth under loading, and remedial methods to improve pipe life from NRC`s PRAISE and ASME B31G criteria to determine when specific pipeline segments must be replaced.
- OSTI ID:
- 460693
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970146--; ISBN 1-890277-01-0
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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