Abstract
Fracture behaviour of a three-layer polymer pipe subjected to nonhomogenous distribution of external pressure induced by soil embedding is studied in this paper. Both long term and additional short term loading is considered. Such loading induces tensile stresses in the inner pipe wall which can lead to crack initiation and further slow crack propagation. The material interface between a protective layer and the base pipe can contribute to crack deceleration and can prolong the residual lifetime of the pipe. The paper presents three-dimensional numerical analysis of a commercial three-layer pipe containing an internal semi-elliptical crack. The effect of soil load on the fracture behaviour of the cracked pipe is quantified and discussed.
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