Ultimate Load Capacity of Offshore Pipeline with Arbitrary Shape Corrosion Defects

A set of generalized solutions are proposed for estimating ultimate load capacity of pipeline with arbitrary corrosion shapes subjected to combined internal pressure, axial force and bending moment. Isotropic and anisotropic material characteristics in longitudinal and circumferential direction of pipeline are also considered in the proposed equations. Simplified numerical method is used to solve the generalized expressions. The comparisons of numerical results based generalized solutions and full-scale experimental results are carried out. The predicted results agree reasonably well with the experiment results. Meanwhile, the effects of corrosion shapes and locations on the ultimate load capacity are studied.

Extraction of pipeline defect feature based on variational mode and optimal singular value decomposition

Because the magnetic signal information of pipeline defects obtained by magnetic flux leakage detection contains interference signals, it is difficult to accurately extract the features. Therefore, a novel pipeline defect feature extraction method based on VMD-OSVD (variational modal decomposition - optimal singular value decomposition) is proposed to promote the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and reduce aliasing in the frequency domain. By using the VMD method, the sampled magnetic signal is decomposed, and the optimal variational mode is selected according to the rate of relative change (VMK) of Shannon entropy (SE) to reconstruct the signal. After that, SVD algorithm is used to filter the reconstructed signal again, in which the H-matrix is optimized with the phase-space matrix to enhance SNR and decrease the frequency domain aliasing. The results show that the method has excellent denoising ability for defect magnetic signals, and SNR is increased by 21.01%, 24.04%, 0.96%, 32.14%, and 20.91%, respectively. The improved method has the best denoising effect on transverse mechanical scratches, but a poor denoising effect on spiral welding position. In the frequency domain, the characteristics of different defects are varied, and their corresponding frequency responses are spiral weld corrosion > transverse mechanical cracking > girth weld > deep hole > normal pipe. The high-frequency band is the spiral weld corrosion with f1 = 153.37 Hz. The low-frequency band is normal with f2 = 1 Hz. In general, the VMD-OSVD method is able to improve the SNR of the signal and characterize different pipe defects. And it has a certain guiding significance to the application of pipeline inspection in the field of safety in the future.

PLASTIC LIMIT LOAD ANALYSIS OF DEFECTIVE PIPELINES

The integrity assessment of defective pipelines represents a practically important task of structural analysis and design in various technological areas,such as oil and gas indus- try,power plant engineering and chemical factories.An iterative algorithm is presented for the kinematic limit analysis of 3-D rigid-perfectly plastic bodies.A numerical path scheme for radial loading is adopted to deal with complex multi-loading systems.The numerical procedure has been applied to carry out the plastic collapse analysis of pipelines with part-through slot under internal pressure,bending moment and axial force.The effects of various shapes and sizes of part-through slots on the collapse loads of pipelines are systematically investigated and evaluated.Some typical failure modes corresponding to different configurations of slots and loading forms are studied.

Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis on Reeled Deepwater Steel Catenary Risers with Girth Weld Defects

In the present study, we simulated the reel-lay installation process of deepwater steel catenary risers（SCRs） using the finite element method and proposed multiaxial fatigue analysis for reeled SCRs. The reel-lay method is one of the most efficient and economical pipeline installation methods. However, material properties of reeled risers may change, especially in the weld zone, which can affect the fatigue performance. Applying finite element analysis（FEA）, we simulated an installation load history through the reel, aligner, and straightener and analyzed the property variations. The impact of weld defects during the installation process, lack of penetration and lack of fusion, was also discussed. Based on the FEA results, we used the Brown-Miller criterion combined with the critical plane approach to predict the fatigue life of reeled and non-reeled models. The results indicated that a weld defect has a significant influence on the material properties of a riser, and the reel-lay method can significantly reduce the fatigue life of SCRs. The analysis conclusion can help designers understand the mechanical performance of welds during reel-lay installation.

Numerical analysis and experimental research on detection of welding defects in pipelines based on magnetic flux leakage

Regular inspection of long-distance oil and gas pipelines plays an important role in ensuring the safe transportation of oil and gas,and inspection on welding defects is an important part of the inspection process.Magnetic flux leakage(MFL)is an electromagnetic non-destructive testing technique which has been commonly utilized to detect welding defects in pipelines.In the present study,Maxwell electro-magnetic simulation software was used to carry out numerical study on the welding defects in pipelines,including incomplete penetration and undercut.TheФ406 pipeline with a wall thickness of 7 mm was selected as the study case to establish the numerical model.Setting the life-off value at 1 mm,the distribution of magnetic leakage field was investigated for pipeline without defect,pipeline with incomplete penetration defect and pipeline with undercut defect respectively,the characteristic values describing the depth and width of defects were found.Furthermore,quantified equations which can be used to describe the defect depth were proposed.Finally,experimental research was carried out to validate the effectiveness of the numerical model,and the experimental results showed good consistence with the numerical calculation results.The research results indicate that,it is technically feasible and reliable to diagnose the incomplete penetration and undercut welding defects in pipelines using MFL.