The effect of multiple circumferential through-wall cracks in the same cross-section on the fracture instability of a stainless steel pipe subject to bending deformation

Abstract

This paper examines the fracture instability of a pipe, fabricated from a ductile material such as 304 stainless steel, in which a circumferential cross-section contains two symmetrically situated through-wall cracks, the pipe being subject to bending deformation. The theoretical analysis, which is based on the tearing modulus procedure, demonstrates the extent to which a multiple-cracked pipe has a greater tendency towards instability than a pipe containing a single through-wall crack.