Local buckling failure analysis of high-strength pipelines

Pipelines in geological disaster regions typically suffer the risk of local buckling failure because of slender structure and complex load. This paper is meant to reveal the local buckling behavior of buried pipelines with a large diameter and high strength, which are under different conditions, including pure bending and bending combined with internal pressure. Finite element analysis was built according to previous data to study local buckling behavior of pressurized and unpressurized pipes under bending conditions and their differences in local buckling failure modes. In parametric analysis, a series of parameters,including pipe geometrical dimension, pipe material properties and internal pressure, were selected to study their influences on the critical bending moment, critical compressive stress and critical compressive strain of pipes.Especially the hardening exponent of pipe material was introduced to the parameter analysis by using the Ramberg–Osgood constitutive model. Results showed that geometrical dimensions, material and internal pressure can exert similar effects on the critical bending moment and critical compressive stress, which have different, even reverse effects on the critical compressive strain. Based on these analyses, more accurate design models of critical bending moment and critical compressive stress have been proposed for high-strength pipelines under bendingconditions, which provide theoretical methods for highstrength pipeline engineering.

Experimental Analysis on Local Buckling of GFRP?Foam Sandwich Pipe Under Axial Compressive Loading

To find out the local buckling behaviors of glass fiber reinforced plastic(GFRP)-foam sandwich pipe suffering axial loading,a series of quasi-static axial compression tests are carried out in the laboratory.Comparing with the test data,systematic numerical analysis on the local buckling behavior of this sandwich pipe is also conducted,and the buckling failure mechanism is revealed.The influences of the key parameters on bearing capacity of the sandwich structure are discussed.Test and numerical results show that the local buckling failure of the GFRPfoam sandwich pipe is dominated basically by two typical modes,i.e.,the conjoint buckling and the layered buckling.Local buckling at the end,shear failure at the end and interface peeling failure are less efficient than the local buckling failure at the middle height,and ought to be restrained by appropriate structural measures.The local buckling bearing capacity increases linearly with the core density of the sandwich pipe structure.When the core density is relatively high(higher than 0.05 g/cm3),the effect of increasing the core density on improving the bearing efficiency is less on the specimens with a large ratio of the wall thickness to the radius than on those with a small one.Local layered buckling is another failure mode with lower bearing efficiency than the local conjoint buckling,and it can be restrained by increasing the core density to ensure the cooperation of the inner and the outer GFRP surface layer.The bearing capacity of the GFRP-foam sandwich pipe increases with the height-diameter ratio;however,the bearing efficiency decreases with this parameter.

A Symplectic Method of Numerical Simulation on Local Buckling for Cylindrical Long Shells under Axial Pulse Loads

In this paper,the local buckling of cylindrical long shells is discussed under axial pulse loads in a Hamiltonian system.Using this system,critical loads and modes of buckling of shells are reduced to symplectic eigenvalues and eigensolutions respectively.By the symplectic method,the solution of the local buckling of shells can be employed to the expansion series of symplectic eigensolutions in this system.As a result,relationships between critical buckling loads and other factors,such as length of pulse load,thickness of shells and circumferential orders,have been achieved.At the same time,symmetric and unsymmetric buckling modes have been discuss.Moreover,numerical results show that modes of post-buckling of shells can be Bamboo node-type,bending type,concave type and so on.Research in this paper provides analytical supports for ultimate load prediction and buckling failure assessment of cylindrical long shells under local axial pulse loads.

Bending Failure Mode and Prediction Method of the Compressive Strain Capacity of A Submarine Pipeline with Dent Defects

A dent is a common type of defects for submarine pipeline.For submarine pipelines,high hydrostatic pressure and internal pressure are the main loads.Once pipelines bend due to complex subsea conditions,the compression strain capacity may be exceeded.Research into the local buckling failure and accurate prediction of the compressive strain capacity are important.A finite element model of a pipeline with a dent is established.Local buckling failure under a bending moment is investigated,and the compressive strain capacity is calculated.The effects of different parameters on pipeline local buckling are analyzed.The results show that the dent depth,external pressure and internal pressure lead to different local buckling failure modes of the pipeline.A higher internal pressure indicates a larger compressive strain capacity,and the opposite is true for external pressure.When the ratio of external pressure to collapse pressure of intact pipeline is greater than 0.1,the deeper the dent,the greater the compressive strain capacity of the pipeline.And as the ratio is less than 0.1,the opposite is true.On the basis of these results,a regression equation for predicting the compressive strain capacity of a dented submarine pipeline is proposed,which can be referred to during the integrity assessment of a submarine pipeline.

Structural Integrity Assessment of Offshore Jackets Considering Proper Modeling of Buckling in Tubular Members-a Case Study of Resalat Jacket

In the present research,results of buckling analysis of 384 finite element models,verified using three different test results obtained from three separate experimental investigations,were used to study the effects of five parameters such as D/t,L/D,imperfection,mesh size and mesh size ratio.Moreover,proposed equations by offshore structural standards concerning global and local buckling capacity of tubular members including former API RP 2A WSD and recent API RP 2A LRFD,ISO 19902,and NORSOK N-004 have been compared to FE and experimental results.One of the most crucial parts in the estimation of the capacity curve of offshore jacket structures is the correct modeling of compressive members to properly investigate the interaction of global and local buckling which leads to the correct estimation of performance levels and ductility.Achievement of the proper compressive behavior of tubular members validated by experimental data is the main purpose of this paper.Modeling of compressive braces of offshore jacket platforms by 3D shell or solid elements can consider buckling modes and deformations due to local buckling.ABAQUS FE software is selected for FE modeling.The scope of action of each of elastic buckling,plastic buckling,and compressive yielding for various L/r ratios is described.Furthermore,the most affected part of each parameter on the buckling capacity curve is specified.The pushover results of the Resalat Jacket with proper versus improper modeling of compressive members have been compared as a case study.According to the results,applying improper mesh size for compressive members can under-predict the ductility by 33%and under-estimate the lateral loading capacity by up to 8%.Regarding elastic stiffness and post-buckling strength,the mesh size ratio is introduced as the most effective parameter.Besides,imperfection is significantly the most important parameter in terms of critical buckling load.

BUCKLING ANALYSIS UNDER COMBINED LOADING OF THIN-WALLED PLATE ASSEMBLIES USING BUBBLE FUNCTIONS

Bubble functions are finite element modes that are zero on the boundary of the element but nonzero at the other point. The present paper adds bubble functions to the ordinary Complex Finite Strip Method(CFSM) to calculate the elastic local buckling stress of plates and plate assemblies. The results indicate that the use of bubble functions greatly improves the convergence of the Finite Strip Method(FSM) in terms of strip subdivision, and leads to much smaller storage required for the structure stiffness and stability matrices. Numerical examples are given, including plates and plate structures subjected to a combination of longitudinal and transverse compression, bending and shear. This study illustrates the power of bubble functions in solving stability problems of plates and plate structures.

Effect of Web Opening on Buckling Instability of Simply Supported Steel I-Beam

The lateral torsional buckling phenomenon often governs design of steel I-beams. Although web opening is often used to accommodate the required mechanical and piping works in buildings, its effect on the buckling instability is not considered in the design codes. In this paper, the effect of web opening on both lateral torsional buckling and local buckling behaviors has been investigated. A simply supported steel I-beam has been studied under uniform bending moment around the major axis. Buckling analysis has been performed using the finite element method. Linear regression analysis has been conducted for output data to formulate an equation for the critical moment including web opening effect. The results have shown a limited reduction in the lateral torsional buckling capacity and a significant reduction in the local buckling capacity.

Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of Thin-Walled Beam on Pre- and Post-Buckling Stiffness and Gauge Sensitivity Index

Lightweight design has a significant impact on reducing fuel consumption and harmful emission of conventional vehicles and improving driving range of electric vehicles. Reducing the thickness of components in vehicle bodies and closures is an efficient approach for weight reduction. Thickness reduction, however, will reduce structural stiffness, especially in the presence of lateral displacements of buckling when critical stress is reached. In this paper, nonlinear FEA models of a thin-walled beam with variable thickness are developed for calculating the changes of beam stiffness as to thickness reduction in the pre- and post-buckling stages. Next, these stiffness values are used to calculate gauge sensitivity of the beam, which changes with respect to beam thickness changes. It is concluded that the presence of buckling will reduce the beam stiffness, worsen the stress uniformity, and increase the gauge sensitivity value of the beam.

Seismic performance of double-skin steel-concrete composite box piers: Part Ⅱ—Nonlinear finite element analysis

An accurate finite element （ FE） model was constructed to examine the hysteretic behavior of double-skin steel-concrete composite box （ DSCB） piers for further understanding the seismic performance of DSCB piers; where the local buckling behavior of steel tubes, the confinement of the in-filled concrete and the interface action between steel tube and in-filled concrete were considered. The accuracy of the proposed FE model was verified by the bidirectional cyclic loading test results. Based on the validated FE model, the effects of some key parameters, such as section width to steel thickness ratio, slenderness ratio, aspect ratio and axial load ratio on the hysteretic behavior of DSCB piers were investigated. Finally, the skeleton curve model of DSCB piers was proposed. The numerical simulation results reveal that the peak strength and elastic stiffness decrease with the increase of the section width to steel thickness ratio. Moreover, the increase of the slenderness ratio may result in a significant reduction in the peak strength and elastic stiffness while the ultimate displacement increases. The proposed skeleton curve model can be taken as a reference for seismic performance analyses of the DSCB piers.

Quantitative investigation on collapse margin of steel high-rise buildings subjected to extremely severe earthquakes

Reponses of structures subjected to severe earthquakes sometimes significantly surpass what was considered in the design.It is important to investigate the failure mechanism and collapse margin of structures beyond design,especially for high-rise buildings.In this study,steel high-rise buildings using either square concrete-filled-tube（CFT） columns or steel tube columns are designed.A detailed three-dimensional（3 D） structural model is developed to analyze the seismic behavior of a steel high-rise towards a complete collapse.The effectiveness is verified by both component tests and a full-scale shaking table test.The collapse margin,which is defined as the ratio of PGA between the collapse level to the design major earthquake level（Level 2）,is quantified by a series of numerical simulations using incremental dynamic analyses（IDA）.The baseline building using CFT columns collapsed with a weak first story mechanism and presented a collapse margin ranging from 10 to 20.The significant variation in the collapse margin was caused by the different characteristics of the input ground motions.The building using equivalent steel columns collapsed earlier due to the significant shortening of the locally buckled columns,exhibiting only 57% of the collapse margin of the baseline building.The influence of reducing the height of the first story was quite significant.The shortened first story not only enlarged the collapse margin by 20%,but also changed the collapse mode.

Numerical analysis and experimental investigation of wind turbine blades with innovative features:Structural response and characteristics

Innovative features of wind turbine blades with flatback at inboard region,thick airfoils at inboard as well as mid-span region and transversely stepped thickness in spar caps have been proposed by Institute of Engineering Thermophysics,Chinese Academy of Sciences(IET-Wind)in order to improve both aerodynamic and structural efficiency of rotor blades.To verify the proposed design concepts,this study first presented numerical analysis using finite element method to clarify the effect of flatback on local buckling strength of the inboard region.Blade models with various loading cases,inboard configurations,and core materials were comparatively studied.Furthermore,a prototype blade incorporated with innovative features was manufactured and tested under static bending loads to investigate its structural response and characteristics.It was found that rotor blades with flatback exhibited favorable local buckling strength at the inboard region compared with those with conventional sharp trailing edge when low-density PVC foam was used.The prototype blade showed linear behavior under extreme loads in spar caps,aft panels,shear web and flatback near the maximum chord which is usually susceptible to buckling in the blades according to traditional designs.The inboard region of the blade showed exceptional load-carrying capacity as it survived420%extreme loads in the experiment.Through this study,potential structural advantages by applying proposed structural features to large composite blades of multi-megawatt wind turbines were addressed.

Prediction of Maximum Section Flattening of Thin-walled Circular Steel Tube in Continuous Rotary Straightening Process

Cross-sectional ovalization of thin-walled circular steel tube because of large plastic bending,also known as the Brazier effect,usually occurs during the initial stage of tube′s continuous rotary straightening process.The amount of ovalization,defined as maximal cross section flattening,is an important technical parameter in tube′s straightening process to control tube′s bending deformation and prevent buckling.However,for the lack of special analytical model,the maximal section flattening was determined in accordance with the specified charts developed by experienced operators on the basis of experimental data;thus,it was inevitable that the localized buckling might occur during some actual straightening operations.New normal strain component formulas were derived based on the thin shell theory.Then,strain energy of thin-walled tube（per unit length）was obtained using the elastic-plastic theory.A rational model for predicting the maximal section flattening of the thin-walled circular steel tube under its straightening process was presented by the principle of minimum potential energy.The new model was validated by experiments and numerical simulations.The results show that the new model agrees well with the experiments and the numerical simulations with error of less than 10%.This new model was expected to find its potential application in thin-walled steel tube straightening machine design.