The conservatism of the net-section stress procedure for predicting the failure of cracked piping systems: the effect of crack shape complexity on the degree of conservatism

Abstract

The failure of circumferentially cracked steel piping is often predicted by assuming that failure conforms to a net-section stress criterion using as input an appropriate value for the critical net-section stress together with a knowledge of the anticipated loadings. The stress at the cracked section is usually calculated via a purely elastic analysis based on the piping being uncracked. However, because the piping is built-in at the ends into a larger component, and since the onset of crack extension requires some plastic deformation, use of the net-section stress approach can give overly conservative failure predictions. In earlier work, the author has quantified the extent of this conservatism, and has shown how it depends on the geometry of the cracked section, the material ductility and the elastic flexibility of a piping system. This paper quantifies the conservatism with regard to the case where a through-wall crack extends over a prescribed fraction of the pipe circumference, while there is also an internal circumferential crack extending around the remainder of the pipe section. This is an extreme form of circumferential cracking but, nevertheless, simulates the well-known Duane Arnold safe-end crack.