Allowable stresses related to crack growth stability and leak-before-break for circumferentially cracked pipes governed by limit loads: Part I, Pipes subjected to tensile loading

Abstract

When cracks are found in high toughness ductile pipes governed by limit loads at in-service inspections, and the applied stresses at the cracked locations are less than the allowable stresses, the cracks are allowable. The allowable stresses are generally determined in combination with failure stresses and safety factors. Failure of pipes with circumferential part-through cracks subjected to tensile loading occurs in a two-step sequence: first there is the onset of crack penetration, and then there is the break after the crack penetration. The Local Approach of Limit Load Criteria, which is based on the net-section stress approach, can estimate both crack penetration and break stresses for high-toughness ductile pipes. Using the Local Approach of Limit Load Criteria, allowable tensile stresses based on crack penetration stresses are determined by means of safety factors for plant service level conditions. The allowable stresses decrease with increasing crack angles and depths. The characters of the allowable tensile stresses are found to vary with changing sizes of crack angles and depths. These different characters involve the presence/absence of two parameters: leak-before-break (LBB) and crack growth stability. The crack size boundary on LBB vs non-LBB can be expressed by appropriate equations containing crack depths and angles. In addition, the boundaries of crack growth stability/instability are also expressed by crack depths and angles. These boundaries are taken into consideration during non-destructive inspection and crack growth evaluation.