摘要: |
Mechanical damage, including dents, bends, wrinkles, and other forms, is the leading cause of all pipeline failures. The mechanically damaged regions act as fatigue crack initiation sites under cyclic loading (present for in-service pipelines). Crack initiation is the first stage of the appearance of fatigue cracking, which becomes much easier to initiate in the presence of damage because of the locally enhanced strain/stress field around the flaw. The damage and residual stresses lower the overall fatigue strength of the steel and its weldments. The size and shape of the flaw actually determines the level of stress necessary for crack initiation and propagation. Determining and detecting the limits of critical damage severity is essential to mitigating crack initiation and, therefore, mitigating fast crack propagation before failure. |