Strain-based design and assessment for pipeline integrity management: A review of applications and gaps

Abstract

Pipelines have become a popular method of energy transportation for natural gas and oil due to their high reliability and efficiency. However, geohazards pose a significant threat to buried pipelines, as ground movement can excessively deform pipelines, leading to a leak or rupture. Given the unpredictable nature of these geohazards, it is crucial to ensure the design of durable pipelines and to actively maintain their integrity. In the past several decades, the pipeline industry has increasingly adopted strain-based design and assessment (SBDA) methods in order to manage pipeline integrity challenges stemming from geohazards. Though the use of these methods has steadily increased and some standards have adopted SBDA methods into their pipeline design codes, there are still several challenges in integrating SBDA methods into a complete risk assessment framework. This work presents a brief introduction to SBDA methods as well as a review of the current research efforts. Gaps and opportunities for future work are identified and discussed with a focus on SBDA’s role in pipeline risk assessment. The identified gaps suggest a need for system level modeling so that causal relationships between geohazards and pipeline risk may be more clearly understood. Finally, connections between SBDA and probabilistic risk assessment are presented to provide a road map for moving towards an integrated pipeline integrity management framework.