Abstract
An integrated computational/experimental procedure to assess rapid axial crack propagation in a polyethylene gas pipe is described here. This is based on a first-principles fracture mechanics approach in which the fracture toughness for the pipe material and the driving force for the flawed pipe are calculated separately. The toughness is determined from an instrumented small-scale steady-state test on a short section of pipe. The driving force is calculated by using an analysis package for fluid/structure interaction in a cracked pipeline. A methodology to preclude the possibility of a long-running crack in a pipeline is presented. By way of validation, a number of comparisons are made with experimentally determined critical pressures for propagation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 193-200 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Computer Modeling and Simulation in Engineering |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Publication status | Published - 1999 |
Keywords
- Finite element
- Fracture
- Pipelines