Engineering Critical Analysis (ECA) & Fracture Toughness of Pipelines Outline

Dr. Basab Bhattacharya Exova (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Outline
Factors controlling cost of Pipeline construction Engineering Critical analyses of pipeline introduction and importance Acceptance criteria obtained from an Engineering Critical Analysis Evaluation of Fracture Toughness data

Cost Reduction Options for pipeline installation

New pipeline design and construction plan High productivity welding and advanced NDT methods to increase production rate Reduction in welding repair rates Recommendations Use of proper welding process (Auto welding) Replace Traditional workmanship criteria with ECA to produce safe Acceptance Criteria for welding

Engineering Critical Assessment

ECA enables the significance of flaws to be assessed in terms of structural integrity during installation and operational phases of the pipeline.
Used for calculating the defect acceptance criteria for fabrication. Replaces arbitrary 'workmanship' standards normally used as acceptance criteria for NDT of welds. Essential when replacing volumetric based NDT methods by Automated Ultrasonic Testing (AUT) which require defect height as part of an acceptance criteria.

ECA for Pipeline

Analysis must consider defect tolerance under stresses (static or dynamic) at different phases of the pipeline Installation stage Peak installation stress or strain Installation fatigue Hydro test pressure Operation phase fatigue loading due temperature or pressure variation, VIV etc Worst case loading during operation Corrosion effect Effect of Sour service conditions

Computational analysis - key processes

Construction of the FAD Calculation of Nominal Stresses (crack driving forces) Calculation of Kmat Values Calculation of reference stress Lr cut of limit Calculation of Kapplied

Determination of acceptable defect sizes

Unsafe

Critical Safe

Final Acceptance Criteria (example)

Tolerable Defect Sizes for Installation and Operational conditions Mainline welds 42OD x 14.1 mm WT Pipe Height (mm) Length (mm) 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 527 281 154 89

3.5 59 Tolerable Defect Sizes for Installation and Operational conditions Mainline welds including AUT uncertainty of measurement H=1 mm, length = 3mm Height (mm) 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 42OD x 14.1mm WT Pipe Length (mm) 524 278 151 86 56

Types of Weld Defects

Advantages of using AUT with ECA

AUT inspection applied with ECA-based tolerable defect acceptance criteria offers several advantages over conventional radiographic inspection Superior detection and sizing of planar flaws Accurate assessment of the significance of weld flaws Reduce Repair Rates as well as cost and installation time of pipeline Potential increased productivity Avoidance of radiation hazards Increased confidence in engineering design limits

Importance of Fracture Toughness testing and ECA

Fracture toughness test results on project material are vital input parameters of an ECA. It is essential to measure the Fracture Toughness properties of a structure properly in order to perform ECA of a pipeline.

FRACTURE TOUGHNESS -Geometry and Terms

Fracture Toughness express in terms of KIC, CTOD, JIC, CTOD-R Curves, J-R Curves

Specimen configurations include Single-Edge Notched Bend (SENB) Single-Edge Notched Tension (SENT)

Test conditions replicate service

Elevated and cryogenic temperatures Dynamic fracture toughness Strain and aged Sour service environment

For more information contact

Basab Bhattacharya
Technical Manager Exova Singapore Laboratory Tel - +65 6372 5610 E-mail basab.b@exova.com