Composite overwraps are a cost-effective repair technology, appropriate for corrosion defects, dents, and gouges for both onshore and offshore steel pipelines. The main benefit of polymer-based sleeves is safe installation without taking the pipeline out of service. This paper presents a new calculation procedure proposed in the form of an algorithm for the sizing of composite repairs of corroded pipelines when the sleeve is applied at zero internal pressure. The main objective of the presented methodology is determination of the effective thickness of the composite repair without its overestimation or underestimation. The authors used a non-linear finite element method with constitutive models allowing analysis of the steel, putty, and composite structures. The validation of the results of numerical computations compared to the experimental ones showed an appropriate agreement. The numerical calculations were applied to compare the analytical results in relation to those obtained by the standards ASME PCC-2 or ISO/TS 24817. The comparison showed that the proposed solution confirmed its effectiveness in reducing the thickness of the sleeve significantly, thus, showing that the current industrial standards provide a considerably excessive composite wrap around the steel pipe corroded area, which leads to an unnecessary increase in the repair costs.

This paper investigates the rupture of thin-walled ductile cylinders with isolated corrosion defects, subject only to internal pressure. It aims to propose a new solution for predicting the maximum load limit that will rupture a corroded pipeline, regardless of its material, its geometric ratio, or the dimensions of the existing corrosion defect. This solution is the result of several numerical simulations by variation of the length and depth of the defect with the assumption that the width of the defect has a negligible marginal effect. In all our numerical simulation analyses, the rupture was controlled by the Tresca failure criterion which is expressed in terms of material hardening exponent and the ultimate material stress. The proposed solution was then compared with the currently used coded methods, first B31.G, its improved version 0.85dL, and then DNV-RP F101, using an experimental database compiled from the existing literature. As a result, our proposed solution has been validated and has resulted in rupture ratios ranging from approximately 0.7 to 1. Furthermore, it has a tight prediction range compared to the B31.G, 0.85dL, and the DNV-RP F101 methods.

Purpose: This study provides an analysis of patch repair for cracked aircraft structures. Delamination is a type of damage that affects the patch's behavior. The purpose of this study is to assess the influence of delamination on repair performance.Design/methodology/approach: An analytical and numerical study using the finite element method was conducted for a cracked plate repaired with a patch containing a pre-existing delamination defect. The method for defining the contact pair surfaces and modeling the delamination interaction within the patch interface is specified using the virtual crack closure technique (VCCT) approach.Findings: The efficiency of the repair is measured in terms of the J-integral. The effects of delamination initiation, mechanical loading, crack length and patch stacking sequences are presented. It is noted that in mode I, delamination propagation is only significant at node A. The numerical results are in good agreement with those of the analytical solution found in the literature. It is observed that the patch's behavior is strongly dependent on loading, crack size and stacking sequences in terms of reducing the structure's lifespan, especially in the presence of delamination.Originality/value: The numerical modeling presented by the VCCT approach is highly valuable for studying delamination evolution. The influence of loading, crack size and stacking sequences on repair performance is discussed in this work.

The evaluation of pipelines having external corrosion defect and their remaining load-carrying capacity is a concern which becomes important in energy industry, especially with the increasing operating pressures and the consequences which can occur following the bursting of these pipelines. A lower bound analytical solution for the prediction of the burst pressure of pipelines is proposed. This solution is based on the approach of plastic-instability criterion in terms of material strain-hardening exponent of internally pressurized corroded pipelines. The suggested solution is evaluated by using database comprising more than 100 carried out tests of pipelines with or without corrosion defects. This database is collected from the literature and covers the majority of steel materials as well as the various standard sizes. The accuracy of the proposed solution is compared with B31.G method and its improved version B31.G Mod by using statistical analyses in terms of average error and its correspondent standard deviation. The proposed solution is accurate than B31.G and modified B31.G methods that are conservative and provide in some cases of middle and high strength material an overestimated burst pressure predictions.

The present work deals with the non-linear formulation of an axisymmetric hyperelastic solid model, based on the concept space fibre rotation (SFR). The SFR-Axi model uses the kinematics of a space fibre to obtain a quite accurate displacement field. It improves in a significant way the precision of the linear element Q4-Axi. It can even be compared, on the accuracy and CPU time level, with the high-order elements as Q8-Axi for instance. A hyperelastic law, based on the Mooney–Rivlin model, is implemented to allow to the present model a better simulation of the forming process of hollow plastic bodies. The numerical results relate to primarily some known tests of hyperelastic structures, with and without contact (swellings).

In this paper, an accurate distribution of stress as well as corresponding factors of stress concentration determination around a spherical cavity, which is considered as embedded in a cylinder exposed to the internal pressure only, is presented. This approach was applied at three main meridians of the porosity by combining the Eshelby’s equivalent inclusion method with Mura and Chang’s methodology employing the jump condition across the interface of the cavity and matrix, respectively. The distribution of stresses around the spherical flaw and their concentration factors were formulated in the form of newly formulated analytical relations involving the geometric ratio of the cylinder, such as external radius and thickness, the angle around the cavity, depth of the porosity, as well as the material Poisson ratio. Subsequently, a comparison of the analytical results and the numerical simulation results is applied to validate obtained results. The results show that the stress concentration factors (SCFs) are not constant for an incorporated flaw and vary with both the porosity depth and the Poisson ratio, regardless of whether the cylinder geometric ratio is thin or thick.