Risk Assessment and Failure Prediction of High-Strength Steel Pipelines in the Presence of Corrosion Defects, Internal Pressure and Soil-Induced Strain

In this work, several industrial codes that are available for assessment of pipeline failure pressure were evaluated with respect to the grade of pipeline steels and the geometry of corrosion defect. A novel, finite element-based CX model was developed to simulate the complex stress/strain conditions exerted on high-strength steel pipelines due to the synergism of internal pressure, soil strain and local stress concentration at corrosion defects. The effect of mechanical-electrochemical interaction on the steel corrosion was determined both mechanistically and quantitatively for reliable prediction of the propagation of corrosion defects.