Research

This project is phase 1 of an overarching three-phase research which studies the girth weld failure modes of pipelines. Project 1 conducted a literature review on previous incidents and Australian pipeline design and practice specifications. The project provides an overwiew on the following topics:

• Girth weld failure incidents
• Large-scale tests
• Numerical simulations
• Defect assessment models

The project also conducted analysis on the girth weld failure mechanism based on the published data and proposed that the difference between the ultimate tensile strength of the weld zone and the yield strength of the pipe is a good indicator of the shear band failure. The research suggests that: 1) the shear band failure mechanism needs to be validated by large-scale tests; and 2) an investigation needs to be carried out to understand the crack initiation mechanism for girth weld failure.

View Summary Report

The industry will benefit from the following outcomes of the project:

• Better understanding on tensile strain capacity, and specifically tensile strain capacity under various weld strength matching conditions (over and under matching)
• Knowledge on similarities and differences in pipeline design, construction, hydro-testing and welding between USA and Australia
• Knowledge inputs to the Australian standard

Douglas Proud

Research & Utilisation Program Coordinator

douglas.proud@futurefuelscrc.com