To investigate the failure mechanism of pipelines subjected to mechanical damage, Charpy impact, crack-tip-opening displacement (CTOD) and fatigue-crack growth tests were carried out for six series of line pipe steels with uniaxial plastic prestrain, εpr. The Charpy absorbed energy and critical CTOD (δc) decreased with increasing |εpr|; ln δc = α εpr + β. The derivative, dδc/dεpr, was dependent on the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature of the steels. In the CTOD tests, the prestrain caused ductile-to-brittle transition for the steels with a higher transition temperature. The effects of the compressive εpr on both the reduction of δc and ductile-to-brittle transition were larger than those of the tensile εpr. The compressive εpr accelerated both the fatigue-crack initiation and growth.
Fatigue behavior of electrically resistance welded (ERW) line pipes with a gouge in a dent was experimentally investigated. After denting and machining a gouge, fluctuating internal pressure was applied to line pipes. The fatigue behavior differed above and below the threshold Q(Qth), as a function of defect size and fracture toughness. When Q < Qth, ductile crack growth was observed with a consequent decrease in fatigue life. On the contrary, fatigue crack growth was observed when Q ≧ Qth. Fatigue life was predictable with an experimentally based power law equation incorporating dent depth, gouge depth, and hoop stress amplitude when Q ≧ Qth.
Crack-tip-opening displacement (CTOD) and fatigue-crack growth tests were conducted for several line pipe steels with uniaxial tensile or compressive prestrain, εpr. Critical CTOD decreased with increasing |εpr|. The reduction of critical CTOD due to prestrain was dependent on the ductile-brittle transition temperature of the steels without prestrain. A few percent of εpr induced the ductile-brittle transition for the steels with a higher transition temperature. The compressive εpr had larger effects on both reduction of critical CTOD and strain induced ductile-brittle transition than the tensile εpr. Only the high compressive εpr accelerated both fatigue crack initiation and growth, and no obvious effect of the tensile εpr on the fatigue properties was observed.
A dynamic finite element analysis method was proposed for calculating the dynamic stress intensity factors for pipes during crack propagation. The proposed method can directly calculate the stress intensity factors without the simplification used in theoretical analyses, and it can consider the effects of the crack velocity and gas decompression. It was found that the stress intensity factors of long propagating cracks in pipes saturated at a certain value in the case of a high crack velocity. However, the stress intensity factors for pipes were in good agreement with those of band plates in the case of a high crack velocity, the stress intensity factors for pipes were different from those of band plates in the case of a low crack velocity. This result could be explained by the effect of bulging on the stress distribution around a crack tip. The effect of bulging was more prominent for pipes with smaller diameters. In contrast, the dynamic stress intensity factors for band plates were in good agreement with the theoretical values that consider the dynamic effects and tended to decrease monotonically with increasing crack velocity. Additionally, the effects of gas decompression, caused by leakage from opened cracks, on the stress intensity factors for pipes were investigated. An explanation of the change in crack direction, reflecting a change from an axial crack to a circumferential crack, which is observed in actual pipeline fractures, was given by analyzing the ratio of the longitudinal stress to lateral stress.
Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) tests were performed using the pipe section buried in a clay type of soil with the pH adjusted to near-neutral range. Pipe specimens with various sizes of fatigue pre-cracks ahead of artifical notch tips on the outer surface were subjected to cyclic loading tests. Maximum level of hoop stress was 105% SMYS, and R-value (Ratio of minimum load to maximum load) was 0.5. Growth of cracks was observed from the fatigue crack tips. Fractographic and metallographic examination has confirmed the quasi-cleavage nature of the transgranular SCC that is typically observed in near-neutral pH SCC. Crack depth measurement using DCPD method revealed the relatively high crack growth rate up to 10−5 mm/s. Metallographic examinations showed the existence of many micro-cracks associated with MnS inclusions in the highly strained field ahead of the initial crack tips. The relatively high crack growth rate may be caused by MnS inclusions. The loading rate, dJ/dt, was calculated for each crack condition in order to correlate qualitatively the crack growth rate with the loading rate. J-integral was calculated through non-linear FEM analyses for semi-elliptical cracks based on the stress-strain relationships obtained from the tensile tests using the same X60 steel specimen. Linear relationship was then obtained between the crack growth rate and the loading rate, and therefore the possibility to predict crack growth rates for various loading condition in the field was demonstrated.
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