Assessment Methods and Technical Challenges of Remaining Strength for Corrosion Defects in Pipelines

Abstract

This paper presents a technical review of remaining strength assessment methods, major technical challenges and on-going progress for line pipes containing metal loss defects. A brief review is first given to burst prediction models for defect-free pipes, including the strength solutions and flow solutions of burst pressure and their experimental validations. Followed are more detailed review and evaluation of existing corrosion assessment methods, including three-generation models developed for low to high strength pipeline steels. Major challenges to improve the corrosion models are then discussed in regard to full-scale testing, numerical modeling, material failure criteria, constraint effects, and applications to real corrosion defects. Finally, on-going progress is presented for developing improved assessment models to predict more accurate remaining strength of corroded pipelines.