Wall Break-Through in Composite Repaired Defects

Overview

Main Objective

Determine the performance of the through-wall design methodology in American Society of Mechanical Engineers PCC-2 when wall-breakthrough occurs in internal defects.

Public Abstract

An estimated 5,000,000 Americans live near pipelines in the U.S. and failures due to corrosion defects can have catastrophic consequences. Composite repairs of pipeline and pressure equipment are a growing segment of the corrosion mitigation industry and have seen large expansions since the introduction of the technique in the early 1990's. Industry acceptance has widened since the initial products came on to the market and the capabilities of these repairs have steadily increased as companies and universities have initiated research and development programs.

The research project is a university-industry partnership that will study the performance of composite repairs applied over realistic defects. Unique facilities for the investigation of erosion/corrosion at The University of Tulsa will be used to generate internal defects on pipe elbows. These defects will be repaired and then hydrostatically tested to determine failure pressure. Failure pressures will then be compared to hydrostatic testing on artificial circular and elliptical flaws similar to what is used during repair qualifications. Based on these results we will evaluate the safety factors inherent in the current design approach and make recommendations for code modifications if necessary. Graduate students will form an integral part of the research team at all stages and will work closely with the PI and the industry partners that have committed time and materials to this research program.

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