A Study on Structural Integrity Assessment of Pipeline using Weight Function Solution

Abstract

There are many Industry Code and Standard (ICS) for Structural Integrity Assessment (SIA) on welded structure with defect. The general ICSs, such as R6, BS 7910 and API 579-1/ASME FFS-1, provide equations to determine the upper bound residual stress profiles based on collections from many literatures. However, these residual stress profiles used in the SIA cause the conservative design for welded structures. In this study, the structural integrity assessment for girth weld in pipeline has been conducted based on fracture mechanics. In addition, thermo-elastic plastic FE analysis was performed for evaluating the residual stress of girth weld in pipeline. The weight function solution is used to determine the stress intensity factor using the residual stress profile obtained by the FE analysis. This approach can account for redistribution and relaxation of residual stress as the defects grow. In order to the evaluate quantitative comparison between BS 7910 and weight function solution, structural integrity assessment determining allowable crack size on cracked pipe was performed with failure assessment diagram. Key words: Structural Integrity Assessment, Welding residual stress, Weight function solution, FE analysis, Stress intensity factor