Structural integrity evaluation of X52 gas pipes subjected to external

corrosion defects using the SINTAP procedure

H. Adib-Ramezani
a,
*
, J. Jeong
a
, G. Pluvinage
b
a
Ecole Polytechnique de lUniversite dOrleans, CNRS-CRMD, 8 rue Leonard de Vinci, 45072 Orleans Cedex 2, France
b
Laboratoire de Fiabilite Mecanique (LFM), Universite de Metz-ENIM, 57045 Metz, France
Received 27 July 2005; received in revised form 26 December 2005; accepted 1 February 2006
Abstract
In the present study, the SINTAP procedure has been proposed as a general structural integrity tool for semi-spherical, semi-elliptical and long
blunt notch defects. The notch stress intensity factor concept and SINTAP structural integrity procedure are employed to assess gas pipelines
integrity. The external longitudinal defects have been investigated via elasticplastic nite element method results. The notch stress intensity
concept is implemented into SINTAP procedure. The safety factor is calculated via SINTAP procedure levels 0B and 1B. The extracted
evaluations are compared with the limit load analysis based on ASME B31G, modied ASME B31G, DNV RP-F101 and recent proposed
formulation [Choi JB, Goo BK, Kim JC, Kim YJ, Kim WS. Development of limit load solutions for corroded gas pipelines. Int J Pressure Vessel
Piping 2003;80(2):121128]. The comparison among extracted safety factors exhibits that SINTAP predictions are located between lower and
upper safety factor bounds. The SINTAP procedure including notch-based assessment diagram or so-called NFAD involves wide range of defect
geometries with low, moderate and high stress concentrations and relative stress gradients. Finally, some inspired and advanced viewpoints have
been investigated.
q 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Gas pipeline; External corrosion defects; SINTAP; Notch stress intensity
1. Introduction
Pipelines have been employed as one of the most practical
and low cost methods for oil and gas transmission since
1950. Pipeline installation for oil and gas transmission has
drastically increased in the last three decades. The
economical and environmental considerations involve struc-
tural integrity and safety. Therefore, reliable structural
integrity and safety of oil and gas pipelines under various
service pressure events including defects should be warily
evaluated. The external defects, e.g. corrosion defects,
gouges, foreign object scratches and pipeline erection
activities are major failure reasons of gas pipelines. In the
present work, nite element stress analysis for API X52 is
performed including longitudinal external defects under high
internal pressure. The failure assessment and structural
integrity of the gas pipeline have been compared with
SINTAP failure assessment levels (levels 0B and 1B) [2] and
limit load analysis (ASME B31G, modied ASME B31G,
DNV RP-F101 and Choi et al. [1]). The elasticplastic nite
element analysis is utilized and the SINTAP procedure is
applied to the notch problem for calculating the structural
integrity of the considered pipelines.
2. Assessment of corrosion defects
In Fig. 1, a list of methods available for corrosion defect
assessment is presented. The methods are grouped vertically by
their type, codied methods or others, and horizontally by their
applicability, pressure or combined loading, etc. The structural
integrity of corrosion defects is substantially studied and the
outcomes for gas pipelines are classied in ASME B31G [3]
and DNV RP-F101. In Fig. 1, the coded methods, i.e. ASME
B31G, modied ASME B31G [4,5] and DNV RP-F101 are
taken into account.
Moreover, the SINTAP procedure is also considered to be
investigated for the structural integrity assessment of
corroded pipelines. In the present study, corroded pipes
under pressure excluding combined loading and external
force are addressed.
International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpvp
0308-0161/$ - see front matter q 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpvp.2006.02.023
* Corresponding author. Tel.: C33 2 384 94992; fax: C33 2 384 17329.
E-mail address: hradib_2000@yahoo.com (H. Adib-Ramezani).
2.1. ASME B31G and modied ASME B31G
ASME B31G is a code for evaluating the remaining strength
of corroded pipelines. It is a supplement to the ASME B31
code for pressure piping. The code was developed in the late
1960s and early 1970s at Battelle Memorial Institute and
provides a semi-empirical procedure for the assessment of
corroded pipes. Based on an extensive series of full-scale tests
on corroded pipe sections, it was concluded that pipeline steels
have adequate toughness and the toughness is not a signicant
factor. The failure of blunt corrosion aws is controlled by their
size and the ow stress or yield stress of the material. The input
parameters include pipe outer diameter (D) and wall thickness
(t), the specied minimum yield strength (s
Y
), the maximum
allowable operating pressure (MAOP), longitudinal extent of
corrosion (L
c
) and defect depth (d).
According to the ASME B31G code, a failure equation for
corroded pipelines was proposed by means of data of burst
experiments and expressed with consideration of two con-
ditions below.
Nomenclature
D outside diameter
t wall thickness
L longitudinal corrosion defect length
d corrosion depth
P
f
failure pressure
M bulging factor
s
Y
yield stress
s
f
ow stress
s
U
ultimate tensile stress
Q corrector factor
R outside radius
D
i
inside diameter
k
r
non-dimensional stress intensity parameter
L
r
non-dimensional loading based parameter
L
max
r
maximum of L
r
SF safety factor
f(L
r
) interpolating function
m rst correction factor
N second correction factor
E modulus of elasticity
n Poissons ratio
3
ref
reference strain
s
ref
reference stress
K
r
notch stress intensity factor
s
eff
effective stress
s
max
maximum stress
X
eff
effective distance
X
n
distance at the end of zone III
c(r) relative stress gradient
s
yy
(r) maximum principal stress
F(r) weight function
d(x) Diracs delta function
A% relative elongation
n hardening exponent
K hardening coefcient
K

C
fracture toughness
k
t
elastic stress concentration factor
k
s
elasticplastic stress factor
s
g
applied circumferential stress
P
app
applied internal gage pressure
F
s
safety factor using SINTAP procedure
F
S
security factor using SINTAP procedure
Fig. 1. Methods for corrosion assessment including codied and other methods.
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 421
First, the maximum hoop stress cannot exceed the yield
strength of the material (s
qq
%s
Y
). Second, relatively short
corrosion is projected on the shape of a parabola and long
corrosion is projected on the shape of a rectangle. The failure
pressure equation for the corroded pipeline is classied by
parabola and rectangle as shown in Fig. 2.
P
f
Z
21:1s
Y
t
D
1K2=3d=t
1K2=3d=t=M
_ _
;
where M Z

1 C0:8
L
D
_ _
2
D
t
_ _

for

0:8
L
D
_ _
2
D
t
_ _

%4 parabolic defects
(1)
P
f
Z
21:1s
Y
t
D
1Kd=t; where M ZN
for

0:8
L
D
_ _
2
D
t
_ _

O4 rectangular defects
(2)
where P
f
, D, d, t, M, s
Y
and L are the failure pressure, outer
diameter, maximum corrosion depth, wall thickness, bulging
factor, yield stress and longitudinal corrosion defect length,
respectively.
Due to some problems associated with the denition of ow
stress s
f
Z1.1s
Y
and the bulging factor, a new ow stress was
proposed (Kiefner et al.) [4,5] as:
s
f
Z1:1s
Y
C69 MPa (3)
The modied ASME B31G including this new modied
ow stress and bulging factor is as follows:
P
f
Z
21:1s
Y
C69t
D
1K0:85d=t
1K0:85d=t=M
_ _
;
where MZ

1C0:6275
L
D
_ _
2
D
t
_ _
K0:003375
L
D
_ _
4
D
t
_ _
2

for
L
D
_ _
2
D
t
_ _
%50
(4)
P
f
Z
21:1s
Y
C69t
D
1K0:85d=t
1K0:85d=t=M
_ _
;
where M Z3:3 C0:032
L
D
_ _
2
D
t
_ _
for
L
D
_ _
2
D
t
_ _
O50
(5)
It is necessary to recall that ASME B31G is limited to low
stress concentration factors and internal pressure loading
conditions. In the assessment procedure, one considers the
maximum depth and longitudinal extent of the corroded area,
(b) (c)
t
L
d
D/2
(a)
L
d
t
Parabolic defect shape assumption for short defects
Longitudinal axis of corroded gas pipeline
Corroded regions
L
d
t
Rectangular defect shape assumption for long defects
Longitudinal axis of corroded gas pipeline
Corroded regions
Fig. 2. (a) Typical illustration of corrosion defects in longitudinal axis of pipe, (b) short corrosion defect simplied as a parabolic curve, (c) long corrosion defects
simplied as a rectangular defect based on ASME B31G code.
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 422
but ignores the circumferential extent and the actual prole. If
the corroded region is found to be unacceptable, B31G allows
the use of more rigorous analysis or a hydrostatic pressure test
in order to determine the pipe remaining strength. Alterna-
tively, a lower maximum allowable operating pressure may be
imposed.
2.2. DNV RP-F101
DNV RP-F101 is the rst comprehensive and extensive
code for pipeline corrosion defect assessment. It provides
guidance for internal pressure and combined loading. As
shown in Fig. 1, it covers all loading types, e.g. pressure only
and combined loading. Furthermore, it provides codied
formulations for pressure, bending and area depth. DNV RP-
101 proposes two methods to nd the failure pressure. The rst
method is based on the partial safety factor and the second is
classied as allowable stress design. Both methods entail
information on the pipe outside diameter (D), wall thickness
(t), ultimate tensile strength (s
U
), maximum allowable
operating pressure (MAOP), longitudinal extent of corrosion
(L
c
) and defect depth (d). The allowable stress design method
considering non-interacting defects is discussed here. The
exact procedures for the partial safety factor method and
interacting defects can be found within the DNV code.
To pursue the design procedure via DNV RP-101, it is
required to determine the loading type (pressure only and
combined loading) and consequently, the failure pressure can
be obtained as
P
f
Z
2s
U
t
DKt
1Kd=t
1Kd=t=Q
_ _
;
where Q Z

1 C0:31
1

Dt
p
_ _
2
(6)
where P
f
, D, d, t, Q and s
U
are the failure pressure, outside
diameter, corrosion depth, wall thickness, correction factor and
ultimate tensile strength, respectively. According to DVN RP-
101, the failure pressure should not exceed the maximum
allowable stress design operating pressure (MAOP), otherwise,
the corroded pipe will be repaired or replaced before returning
to service.
2.3. Chois method
Based on limit load analysis assumptions and nite element
analysis of corroded pipelines, Choi et al. proposed a limit load
solution as a function of R/t, d/t, L=

Rt
p
as follows [1]
P
f
Z
0:9
2s
U
t
D
i
C
0
CC
1
L

Rt
p
_
_
_
_
CC
2
L

Rt
p
_
_
_
_
2
_
_
_
_
;
L

Rt
p !6
1
2s
U
t
D
i
C
3
CC
4
L

Rt
p
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
;
L

Rt
p R6
_

_
(7)
where
C
0
Z0:06
d
t
_ _
2
K0:1035
d
t
_ _
C1; C
1
_
ZK0:6913
d
t
_ _
2
C0:4548
d
t
_ _
K0:1447; C
2
Z0:1163
d
t
_ _
2
K0:1053
d
t
_ _
C0:0292; C
3
ZK0:9847
d
t
_ _
C1:1101; C
4
Z0:0071
d
t
_ _
K0:0126
_
where P
f
, s
U
, D
i
, d, t and R are the failure pressure or maximum
pressure, ultimate tensile strength, inside diameter, defect
depth, wall thickness and average pipe radius, respectively. In
general, the corrosion pits are idealized into a semi-elliptical
shape rather than rectangular and semi-spherical shapes. In
Fig. 3, the geometrical parameters of one semi-elliptical defect
are displayed. As illustrated, the intersection of the ellipsoidal
volume and the cylindrical pipe volumes produces intersected
curves. The mathematical expression of these curves can be
written as:
M
1
:
x
2
d
2
C
yKD=2
2
d
2
C
z
2
L=2
2
Z1
x
2
Cy
2
ZR
2
for z2KL=2;L=2 or xZD=2cosq; y
ZD=2sinqCD=2 for z2KL=2;L=2 and q20;2p
_

_
(8)
The subtraction of the mentioned volumes creates the semi-
elliptical corrosion defect. To obtain the semi-spherical defect,
it is necessary to modify relation (8) as follows:
M
2
:
x
2
d
2
C
yKD=2
2
d
2
C
z
2
d
2
Z1
x
2
Cy
2
ZR
2
for z2KL=2;L=2 or xZD=2cosq; y
ZD=2sinqCD=2 for z2KL=2;L=2 and q20;2p
_

_
(9)
Fig. 3. Typical semi-elliptical defect geometrical conguration.
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 423
As will be mentioned later, the semi-spherical defects do not
produce high stress concentration (less than two for the same d/
t and D/t values).
2.4. SINTAP procedure
The SINTAP (Structural Integrity Assessment Procedure for
European Industry) procedure offers a failure assessment
diagram (FAD). In the FAD method, a failure curve or
interpolating curve is used to assess the failure zone,
safe zone and safety factor. In Fig. 4, a typical failure
assessment diagram is illustrated.
The failure assessment diagram accounts for plastic collapse
as well as brittle failure including safety factor considerations.
The normalized stress intensity factor versus normalized stress
or loading parameter is taken into account in the failure
assessment diagram. The failure assessment diagram has been
included in British Standard (BS 7910) in conjunction with the
structural integrity of cracked structures. The main objective of
the present study is to develop the interpolating curve and FAD
concept for the notch problem.
The SINTAP procedure can be generally simplied to
several distinct levels according to the no yield point
elongation assumptions. In the current paper, no yield point
elongation is expected due to the material mechanical behavior
(API X52) [2]. The mathematical expressions of the SINTAP
procedure with the aforementioned assumption can be
categorized as below
f L
r
Z 1 C
L
2
r
2
_ _
K1=2
0:3 C0:7 e
K0:6L
6
r

_ _
;
for 0%L
r
%1; where; L
max
r
Z1 C
150
s
Y
_ _
2:5
(10)
f L
r
Z
1C
L
2
r
2
_
_
_
_
K1=2
0:3C0:7 e
KmL
6
r

; 0%L
r
%1
1C
1
2
_
_
_
_
K1=2
0:3C0:7e
Km
L
NK1=2N
r
; 1!L
r
%L
max
r
_

_
(11)
where
m Zmin 0:001
E
s
Y
; 0:6
_ _
; L
max
r
Z
1
2
s
Y
Cs
U
s
U
_ _
;
N Z0:3 1K
s
Y
s
U
_ _
f L
r
Z
E3
ref
s
ref
C
1
2
L
2
r
E3
ref
=s
ref

_ _
K1=2
; for 0%L
r
%L
max
r
(12)
where
L
max
r
Z
1
2
s
Y
Cs
U
s
U
_ _
; s
ref
ZL
r
s
Y
where f(L
r
), L
r
, L
max
r
, s
Y
, m, E, s
U
, N, 3
ref
and s
ref
are
interpolating function, non-dimensional loading or stress-based
parameter, maximum value of non-dimensional loading or
stress-based parameter, yield stress, rst correction factor,
modulus of elasticity, ultimate stress, second correction factor,
reference strain and reference stress, respectively.
3. Notch stress intensity factor concept
As outlined later, corrosion defects cannot be considered as
cracks and consequently, the fracture mechanics hypotheses
are not applicable. In the present study, corrosion pits are
deemed as notches and the notch stress intensity factor concept
is utilized.
The local fracture criterion, it is presumed that the fracture
process requires a certain fracture volume [6]. This volume is
assumed as a cylinder with effective distance as its diameter.
Based on the bi-logarithmic elasticplastic stress distribution
along the ligament, three distinct zones can be readily
distinguished. The elasticplastic stress primarily increases
and it attains a peak value (zone I) then it gradually drops to the
perfect elastic regime (zone II). Zone III represents linear
behavior in the bi-logarithmic diagram and starts at a certain
distance, which is named the effective distance. As a matter of
fact, the notch tip can be considered as a virtual crack after
effective distance [7]. Therefore, the notch stress intensity
factor is described and dened as a function of effective
distance and effective stress (Fig. 5)
K
r
Zs
eff

2pX
eff
_
(13)
where K
r
, s
eff
and X
eff
are notch stress intensity factor, effective
stress and effective distance, respectively.
k
r
L
r
1.00
1.00
O 0.75 0.50 0.25
0.25
0.50
0.75
Interpolating curve
SAFE ZONE
FAILURE
Assessment point,
SF=OC/OA>2
*
k
r
*
r
L
A
B
C
Interpolating curve
including SF=OC/OB=2
P
l
a
s
t
i
c

c
o
l
l
a
p
s
e
Brittle fracture
SECURITY ZONE
f(L
r
)
max
r
L
Fig. 4. Typical presentation of failure assessment diagram (FAD), which
presents the evolution of non-dimensional stress intensity parameter versus
non-dimensional loading or stress based parameter including an assessment
point AL

r
; k

r
.
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 424
The determination of effective stress and effective distance
is accomplished by the relative stress gradient and denoted as
cr Z
1
s
yy
r
vs
yy
r
vr
(14)
where c(r) and s
yy
(r) are the relative stress gradient and
maximum principal stress or crack opening stress, respectively.
The relative stress gradient depicts the severity of the stress
concentration around the notch and crack tips. However, the
stress distribution effect is not solely a major parameter for the
fracture process zone. The minimum point of the relative stress
gradient in the bi-logarithmic diagram is conventionally taken
into account as the relevant effective distance and signies the
virtual crack length. The effective stress is dened as
s
eff
Z
1
X
eff
_
X
eff
0
s
yy
rFrdr (15)
where s
eff
, X
eff
, s
yy
(r) and F(r) are effective stress, effective
distance, maximum principal stress and weight function,
respectively. The weight function delineates stress importance
in the fracture process zone. In Table 1, some proposed weight
functions are described. As shown in Table 1, the unit weight
function and Petersons weight function are the simplest
denitions of the effective distance. The unit weight function
deals with the straight stress average and Petersons weight
function gives the stress value at a specic distance and it is not
required to compute numerical integration. The other methods
involve some computational efforts.
4. Structural integrity evaluation of corroded pipes using
SINTAP
In the present section, the structural integrity of corroded
pipes is addressed. The main goal is to determine the effect of
defect geometry in pipelines. The semi-spherical defects, semi-
elliptical defects and long blunt notch are taken into account.
Table 1
Different proposed weight functions for calculating effective stress around notch ahead
Weight function F(r) s
eff
Unit weight function F(r)Z1
s
eff
Z
1
X
eff
_
X
eff
0
s
yy
rdr
Petersons weight function [8] FrZdrKX
eff
s
eff
Zs
yy
X
eff

Qylafkus weight function [9] FrZ1Krcr

s
eff
Z
1
X
eff
_
X
eff
0
s
yy
r1Krcrdr
Kadis weight function [10] FrZe
rcr=2
s
eff
Z
1
X
eff
_
X
eff
0
s
yy
re
rcr=2
dr
Modied Qylafkus weight function [11] FrZ1Krjcrj
s
eff
Z
1
X
eff
_
X
eff
0
s
yy
r1Krjcrjdr
Table 2
Chemical composition of API X52 (weight%)
C Mn Si Cr Ni Mo S Cu Ti Nb Al
0.22 1.22 0.24 0.16 0.14 0.06 0.036 0.19 0.04 !0.05 0.032
s
eff
X
eff
Log(r)
Log (s
yy
(r))
Stress distribution along defect root
Geometrical defect
I II III
Fracture Process Zone(FPZ)
Notch stress intensity virtual crack
2pX
eff
K
r
=s
eff
s
max
X
n
x
s
yy
(r)
s
yy
(r)
1
(r) =
Relative stress gradient
Fig. 5. Schematic elasticplastic stress distribution along notch ligament and
notch stress intensity virtual crack concept.
Table 3
Mechanical properties of API X52
E (GPa) n s
Y
(MPa) s
U
(MPa) A% n K (MPa)
K

C
MPa m
0:5

203 0.30 410 528 32 0.164 876 116.6

E, n, s
Y
, s
U
, A%, n, K and K

C
are modulus of elasticity, Poissons ratio, yield stress, ultimate stress, relative elongation, hardening exponent, hardening coefcient
and fracture toughness, respectively.
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 425
The failure pressure is extracted by means of the maximum
failure pressure according to the above-mentioned codes
(ASME B31G, modied ASME B31G, DNV RP-101 and
Chois method). To achieve this, API X52 is considered and
non-linear static nite element analysis is performed including
gravity effects. The obtained stress distributions yield the notch
stress intensity factor and stress parameters, which are needed
to assess structural integrity by the notch-adapted SINTAP
procedure [2].
4.1. Mechanical properties of API X52
API X52 was the most common gas pipeline material for
transmission of oil and gas during 19501960. The chemical
composition of API X52 is shown in Table 2.
In Table 3, the mechanical properties of API X52 are
presented.
In Fig. 6, the true stressstrain curve of API X52 including
hardening effects is depicted.
As illustrated in Fig. 6b, the fracture toughness has been
extracted using a piece of pipe under three point bending
condition. The present test set-up yields the fracture toughness
or so-called notch fracture [12] toughness, which is applied to
the SINTAP procedure FAD diagram in the current study. It is
necessary to mention that the fracture toughness expression can
also be obtained using another proposed method [13].
Fig. 6. (a) Simple tension test results as true stressstrain curve for API X52
material, (b) experimental test set-up for extracting the fracture toughness.
Fig. 7. (a) Pipe geometry (all dimensions in millimetres), (b) central semi-spherical defect (tZ6.1 mm, dZt/2), (c) central semi-elliptical defect (tZ6.1 mm, dZt/2,
d/LZ0.1), (d) central long blunt notch (tZ6.1 mm, dZt/2, d/LZ0.1, rZ0.15 mm).
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 426
4.2. FEM simulations
To nd the structural integrity of corroded pipes under high
internal pressure, it is required to obtain the stress distribution
in the vicinity of corrosion defects. The semi-spherical defects,
semi-elliptical defects and long blunt notch are considered in
this study. The main objective is to determine and evaluate the
stress distribution pattern and its corresponding impact on
structural integrity of corroded pipes. To tease out the
boundary conditions side effects and gain pure induced stress
distribution due to the defects existence, it is assumed that the
aforementioned defects are mathematically positioned into an
innite pipeline. This assumption can be physically fullled by
sufcient pipe length, which can be found via trial and error
procedure. In Fig. 7, the geometrical conguration of current
defects is presented. In the present paper, the defect depth for
all models is equal to one-half of pipe wall thickness and the
defect length over defect depth ratio is considered as 10 (L/dZ
10). Using the same defect depth and lengthdepth ratio allows
comparison of the geometrical features on the stress
distribution and stress gradient around the chosen defects.
To analyze the stress distribution, one-quarter symmetry
considerations including an eight-node solid element mesh
have been employed. In Fig. 8, the mesh densities around the
defects are shown. Firstly, the elastic stress concentration
factors for different defect shapes are accounted for. This
comparison provides a general point of view about the
geometrical effects excluding the mechanical properties of
X52, and corresponding plastic zones, which commonly appear
in the neighborhood of high concentration stress positions.
Moreover, it allows us to consider the elastic relative gradient
in the longitudinal defect direction.
In Fig. 9, the gross elastic stress concentration factor and
relative elastic stress gradient are represented for the semi-
Fig. 8. (a) A quarter semi-spherical model (defect depth is equal to half thickness), (b) mesh density around selected semi-spherical shape defect, (c) a quarter semi-
elliptical model (defect depth is equal to half thickness), (d) mesh density around selected semi-elliptical shape defect, (e) a quarter long blunt notch model (defect
depth is equal to half thickness), (f) mesh density around selected long blunt notch shape defect.
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 427
spherical shape, semi-elliptical shape and blunt notch with the
same aspect ratio and defect depth. The gross elastic stress
concentration has been dened as maximum principal stress
over nominal hoop stress throughout the present study.
The stress distribution at the edge of the critical damage
plane reveals that the stress substantially increases in the blunt
notch case. The relative stress gradient drop and jump points
are at sharp corners as shown in Fig. 9. As illustrated in Fig. 9,
the longitudinal direction and radial direction paths have high
stress jumps in maximum principal stress or crack opening
stress magnitude and these outstanding positions play an
essential role in structural integrity of corroded or gouged
pipelines, i.e. the micro-cracks appear at these hot points and
the stress magnitude and gradient sustains and drives the
above-mentioned micro-cracks to the naked eye cracks or
visible crack. Particularly, the outlined phenomenon is delayed
due to the material ductility of X52. The elasticplastic stress
factor would be considered as suitable scale. In Fig. 10, semi-
elliptical and blunt notch defects are taken into account based
on high stress concentration and plastic zone induction for
70 bar as internal gage pressure and the same aspect ratio 0.1.
The elasticplastic stress factor has been dened as maximum
principal elasticplastic stress over nominal hoop stress.
It is straightforward to account for the highlighted regions to
extract the notch stress intensity factor. The computed notch
stress intensity factors at longitudinal and radial direction of all
the defects have been taken into account (semi-spherical, semi-
elliptical and blunt notch). It is required to clarify that the
elasticplastic stress analysis was not achieved according to the
lack of a plastic zone presence at applied loading for semi-
spherical defects:
(a)
(b)
(c)
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
E
l
a
s
t
i
c

g
r
o
s
s

s
t
r
e
s
s

c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

f
a
c
t
o
r
,
k
t
Distance (mm)
Stress concentration factor
Elastic relative gradient,
E
l
a
s
t
i
c

r
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

s
t
r
e
s
s

g
r
a
d
i
e
n
t
,

(
m
m

1
)

P
1
P
2
P
3
P
1
P
2
P
3
x
y
Longitudinal pipe direction Radial direction Longitudinal to radial direction
elastic relative stress
gradient drop position
P
4
P
4
elastic relative stress
gradient jump position
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
E
l
a
s
t
i
c

g
r
o
s
s

s
t
r
e
s
s

c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

f
a
c
t
o
r
,
k
t

Distance (mm)
Stress concentration factor
Elastic relative gradient,
E
l
a
s
t
i
c

r
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

s
t
r
e
s
s
g
r
a
d
i
e
n
t
,

(
m
m

1
)

P
1
P
2
P
3
elastic relative stress
gradient jump position
elastic relative stress
gradient drop position
Longitudinal
direction Longitudinal to radial direction
P
1
P
3
P
4
P
5
P
2
P
4
P
5
R
a
d
i
a
l

d
i
r
e
c
t
i
o
n

x
y
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
E
l
a
s
t
i
c

g
r
o
s
s

s
t
r
e
s
s

c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

f
a
c
t
o
r
,

k
t
Distance (mm)
Stress concentration factor
Elastic relative gradient,
E
l
a
s
t
i
c

r
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

s
t
r
e
s
s

g
r
a
d
i
e
n
t
,

(
m
m

1
)

P
1
P
2
P
3
elastic relative stress
gradient jump position
elastic relative stress
gradient drop position
P
1
P
2
P
3
P
4
x
y
Longitudinal
direction Longitudinal to radial direction
Radial
direction
P
4
Fig. 9. Stress concentration factor and elastic relative stress gradient variation
at edge of critical damage plane for 70 bar as internal pressure including semi-
spherical defect, semi-elliptical defect and blunt notch with aspect ratio d/LZ
0.1: (a) semi-spherical shape, (b) semi-elliptical shape, (c) blunt notch shape.
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
E
P

s
t
r
e
s
s

f
a
c
t
o
r
,


k

Distance (mm)
ElasticPlastic stress factor, k

ElasticPlastic relative gradient,

E
P

r
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

s
t
r
e
s
s

g
r
a
d
i
e
n
t
,

(
m
m

1
)

P
1
P
2
P
3
EP relative stress gradient
jump position
EP relative stress gradient
drop position
P
1
P
2
P
3
P
4
x
y
Longitudinal
direction Longitudinal to radial direction
Radial
direction
P
4
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
E
P

s
t
r
e
s
s

f
a
c
t
o
r
,

k

Distance (mm)
ElasticPlastic stress factor, k

ElasticPlastic relative gradient,
E
P

r
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

s
t
r
e
s
s

g
r
a
d
i
e
n
t
,

(
m
m

1
)

P
1
P
2
P
3
EP relative stress gradient
jump position
EP relative stress gradient
drop position
Longitudinal
direction Longitudinal to radial direction
P
1
P
3
P
4
P
5
P
2
P
4
P
5
R
a
d
i
a
l

d
i
r
e
c
t
i
o
n
x
y
Fig. 10. Elasticplastic stress factor and relative stress gradient evolution
including critical zones: (a) semi-elliptical defect, (b) blunt notch defect.
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 428
4.3. Notch stress intensity factor calculation and SINTAP
implementation
The notch stress intensity factors are computed using the
maximum principal stress versus ligament in the bi-logarithmic
diagram (Fig. 11).
In Fig. 11, the stress distribution along the radial and
longitudinal directions is taken into account. These positions
sustain the stress propagation in the radial and longitudinal
direction of the considered pipe defects. Based on the notch
stress intensity method for highly plastic zones (Fig. 11c and
e), the elasticplastic relative stress gradient is applied to
specify the effective stress. In Table 4, notch stress intensity
factors are summarized.
The obtained notch stress intensity factors and applied
internal pressure are utilized to dene the required assessment
points, which are used in the failure assessment prediction of
the SINTAP procedure.
In Fig. 12, the SINTAP diagram including the assessment
points, security and failure margins are shown. The notch stress
intensity factor is dened by K
r
and the non-dimensional
parameter k
r
is denoted by K
r
over K

C
:
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
(e)
(f)
1E-3 0.01 0.1 10
100
150
200
250
300
M
a
x
i
m
u
m

p
r
i
n
c
i
p
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
Distance (mm)
Stress distribution in longitudinal direction (P
2
-P
1
)
P
1
P
2
P
3
x
y
P
4
X
eff

eff
X
n

eff
= 0.72781 mm

eff
= 184.468 MPa
P
2
P
1
0.01 0.1 1 10
100
200
300
400
500
600
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
Stress distribution in radial direction (P
3
-P
4
)
M
a
x
i
m
u
m

p
r
i
n
c
i
p
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
Distance (mm)
Relative stress gradient
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

s
t
r
e
s
s

g
r
a
d
i
e
n
t


(
m
m

1
)
X
eff

eff
X
n

eff
= 450.343 MPa
P
3
P
4
P
1
P
2
P
3
P
4
x
y
0.01 0.1 1 10
100
200
300
400
500
600
M
a
x
i
m
u
m

p
r
i
n
c
i
p
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
Distance (mm)
Stress distribution inlongitudinal direction (P
2
-P
1
)
X
eff

eff

X
n

eff
= 252.160 MPa
P
2
P
1
P
2
P
3
P
4
x
y
P
1
0.01 0.1 10
100
200
300
400
500
600
M
a
x
i
m
u
m

p
r
i
n
c
i
p
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
Distance (mm)
Stress distributioninlongitudinal direction (P
2
-P
1
)
X
eff

eff

X
n

eff
= 0.6383 mm

eff
= 463.311 MPa
P
2
P
1
P
1
P
3
P
4
P
5
P
2
x
y
1E-3 0.01 0.1 1 10
100
150
200
250
300
M
a
x
i
m
u
m

p
r
i
n
c
i
p
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
Distance (mm)
Stress distribution in radial direction (P
3
-P
4
)
X
eff

eff
X
n

P
3
P
4
P
2
P
3
x
y
P
4
P
1
X
eff
= 0.42561 mm

eff
= 202.765 MPa
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
M
a
x
i
m
u
m

p
r
i
n
c
i
p
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
1
X
eff
= 0.6736 mm

eff
= 0.5333 mm
0.01 0.1 1 10
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
Stress distribution in radial direction (P
4
-P
5
)
Distance (mm)
Relative stress gradient
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

s
t
r
e
s
s

g
r
a
d
i
e
n
t

(
m
m

1
)
X
eff

eff
X
n
P
4
P
5
P
1
P
3
P
4
P
5
P
2
x
y
X
eff
= 0.37973 mm

eff
= 539.656 MPa
1
Fig. 11. Stress distribution in the bi-logarithmic diagram: (a) semi-spherical in radial direction, (b) semi-spherical in longitudinal direction, (c) semi-elliptical in
radial direction, (d) semi-elliptical in longitudinal direction, (e) blunt notch in radial direction, (f) blunt notch in longitudinal direction.
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 429
k
r
Z
K
r
K

C
(16)
The loading parameter in the SINTAP failure assessment
diagram is calculated using the ratio of applied circumferential
stress to the ow stress as follows
L
r
Z
s
g
s
f
; where s
g
Z
P
app
D
2t
and s
f
Z
s
Y
Cs
U
2
(17)
where s
g
, s
f
, L
r
, P
app
, D, t, s
Y
and s
U
are applied
circumferential stress, ow stress, non-dimensional loading
parameter, applied internal gage pressure, outside diameter,
wall thickness, yield stress and ultimate stress, respectively.
According to Task 2.6 in SINTAP procedure [14], it does not
cover the considered geometries in the present paper. SINTAP
FAD formulation with no SINTAP L
r
expressions, which
usually occurs in practice, is applied in the current study.
However, the extracted outcomes in Table 5, clearly
substantiate that this assumption is approximately good
enough.
The blunt notch safety factor in the radial direction (point A)
for SINTAP levels 0B and 1B can be written as below:
F
s
Z
OD
OA
; level 0B
OE
OA
; level 1B
_

_
(18)
The security factor can be described as
F
S
Z
OB
OA
; level 0B
OC
OA
; level 1B
_

_
(19)
where F
s
and F
S
are safety factor and security factor using
SINTAP procedure, respectively. In Fig. 12, all assessment
points are located in the security zone and evidently the safety
zone.
The security zone can be conventionally dened using
certain safety factor (F
s
Z2). Thus, the security and safety
factors have been extracted via SINTAP security and safety
margins and assessment points. Moreover, the ASME B31G,
modied ASME B31G or so called mAMSE B31G, DNV RP-
Table 4
Effective stress, effective distance and notch intensity factors along radial and longitudinal direction using 70 bar as applied internal gage pressure
Defect type Radial direction Longitudinal direction
Effective distance
(mm)
Effective stress
(MPa)
K
r
(MPa m
0.5
) Effective distance
(mm)
Effective stress
(MPa)
K
r
(MPa m
0.5
)
Semi-spherical 0.426 202.765 10.485 0.728 184.468 12.474
Semi-elliptical 0.674 343.450 22.344 0.533 252.16 14.597
Blunt notch 0.380 539.656 26.369 0.638 311.463 19.725
(a)
(b)
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
SINTAP Level 0B security margin
E
D
SINTAP failure marginlevel 1B
SINTAP failure margin level 0B
SINTAP failure margin level 0B
SINTAP failure margin level 1B
SINTAP security margin level 0B
SINTAP security margin level 1B
B
cut-off
C
O
k
r
L
r
A
assessment points
SINTAP Level 1B security margin
cut-off
FAILURE
SAFETY ZONE SECURITY ZONE
F
s
=OE/OA
F
S
=OC/OA
F
s
=OD/OA
F
S
=OB/OA
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
0.45
0.50
0.55
SINTAP Level 0B security margin
SINTAP Level 1B security margin
Semi-spherical defect-radial direction
Semi-spherical defect-longitudinal direction
Semi-elliptical defect-radial direction
Semi-elliptical defect-longitudinal direction
Blunt notch-radial direction
Blunt notch-longitudinal direction
B
C
O
k
r
L
r
A
assessment points
cut-off
SAFETY ZONE
SECURITY ZONE
F
S
=OC/OA
F
S
=OB/OA
Fig. 12. SINTAP diagram including Levels 0B and 1B for all selected defect
shapes (a) failure, safety and security zones (b) security and partially illustrated
safety zone.
Table 5
Calculated safety factors using mentioned coded and other methods
Type SINTAP 0B SINTAP 1B ASME B31G mASME B31G DNV RP F-101 Choi et al.
Semi-spherical 4.095 4.106 3.521 4.056 4.263 3.339
Semi-elliptical 3.407 3.750 3.432 3.936 4.263 2.812
Blunt notch 3.186 3.583 N/A N/A N/A N/A
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 430
F101 and Choi et al. are employed to obtain safety factors. The
safety factor is determined by means of the applied pressure
P
app
over failure pressure P
f
as
SF Z
P
app
P
f
(20)
where SF, P
app
and P
f
are safety factor, applied internal gage
pressure and failure pressure or burst pressure, respectively. In
Table 5, different safety factors according to the SINTAP
procedure and limit load analysis methods are computed using
implemented MATLAB code.
As expected earlier, the SINTAP 0B is more conservative
than SINTAP 1B. Nevertheless, ASME B31G, modied
ASME B31G, DNV RP F-101 and Chois method do not
offer any structural integrity formulae for blunt notch defects
and DNV RP F-101 does not exhibit any variation in safety
factor for the chosen semi-spherical and semi-elliptical defects.
The comparison of computed safety factors emphasizes that
DNV RP F-101 and Chois method provide the upper bound
and lower bound margins (Fig. 13).
5. Conclusion and discussion
The structural integrity of corroded pipelines subjected to
internal pressure is studied in this paper. The semi-spherical,
semi-elliptical and blunt notch defects are examined under this
loading and safety factors are evaluated by means of the
SINTAP procedure, which is modied using a notch-based
failure assessment diagram or so called NFAD. The ASME
B31G, mASMEB31G, DNVRP F-101 and Chois method have
been also utilized. By taking advantage of the notch stress
intensity concept for elastic and elasticplastic stress distri-
bution along critical ligaments, the notch-based failure
assessment diagram, NFAD sustains the structural integrity
evaluation. The mentioned NFAD accounts for not only the
loading points of view, e.g. limit load analysis, but also
the fracture aspect. This provides more exibility to estimate
the wide range of defect geometries, i.e. it is feasible to assess
structural integrity of semi-spherical corrosion crater as well as
sharp blunt notch including all mechanical properties with the
same procedure. Using the SINTAP procedure and the
corresponding modied FADconcept facilitates the notch stress
intensity calculation in defect hot point positions. The current
facilities make it possible to evaluate and determine the notch
stress intensity factor at two sharp corners where cracks and
local damages are expected to occur. The critical edge should be
considered in structural integrity estimation, e.g. the semi-
spherical defect represents a greater notch intensity factor in the
longitudinal direction rather than the radial direction (Table 4).
Consequently, the aforementioned SINTAP procedure with the
NFADidea is entirely good enough to take into account the most
important critical points. Furthermore, the reliability aspects can
be readily employed into the NFAD and the security issues are
satised. Hence, the brief conclusions can be summarized as
below:
1. SINTAP procedure and NFAD concept using notch stress
intensity point of view provide safety factors, which are
located between lower and upper bound estimates by other
codied methods for chosen defects.
2. SINTAP estimations conrm low fracture inuence on
structural integrity of gas pipelines under pure internal
pressure [1517].
3. NFAD enables to consider the hot spot regions and it is
obtained via an effective stress and effective distance in
elastic and elasticplastic states and consequently, it yields
the notch stress intensity factor, which is applied into the
NFAD.
4. SINTAP is not restricted to low stress concentrations and
provide high exibility for predicting low stress concen-
tration factors, e.g. semi-spherical shapes as well as high
concentration factors (blunt notch shapes).
5. Due to the nite element analysis, all type of loading, e.g.
trafc loading, soil movement, consolidation for buried
pipelines [18], bending effect via pipe self-weight for long
spanpipe supports includingor excludingexternal forces and
randomly applied forces and deformations throughout the
pipelines can be imposed in structural integrity assessment
evaluation.
6. Different SINTAP procedure levels can be applied to
implement the reliability [19] and security points of view
according to the available and the most well-known human
and environmental limitations.
7. Transverse corrosion defects, which would be considered for
lowdiameter pipelines, can also be assimilated via SINTAP.
8. It is possible that oblique defects, which lead to so-called
mixed mode notch fracture analysis and multi-corrosion
defects [20], are likewise treated using SINTAP and the
notch stress intensity concept.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Pr. Michel Lebienvenu for
project support and Dr Joseph Gilgert who provides some
experiments.
Semi-spherical Semi-elliptical Blunt notch
0
1
2
3
4
5
S
a
f
e
t
y

f
a
c
t
o
r
,

F
s
Defect type
SINTAP level 0B
SINTAP level 1B
ASME B31G
mASME B31G
DNV RP F-101
Choi et al.
1 2 6 3 5 4 1 2 6 3 5 4 1 2
1
2
3
4
5
6
Fig. 13. Safety factor of selected codied and methods for semi-spherical,
semi-elliptical and blunt notch defects.
H. Adib-Ramezani et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 420432 431
References
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80(2):1218.
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Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Manual for determining strength of
corroded pipelines, ASME B31G; 1984.
[4] Keifner JF, Vieth PH. A modied criterion for evaluating the remaining
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Memorial Institute, Columbus; 1989.
[5] Veith PH, Keifner JF. Database of corroded pipe tests. Final report on
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[6] Pluvinage G. Fracture and fatigue emanating from stress concentrators.
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