Pipeline Research Council International Inc. (PRCI)’s Crack Management SRP has identified that circumferential cracking is challenging for pipeline operating companies. To close this gap the NDE-4-24 project aims to create a framework to identify, assess, and mitigate the risk due to circumferential cracking threats. Susceptibility to failure from circumferential cracking is linked to (1) circumferential cracks subject to increasing axial or bending strains due to secondary loading, or (2) growth in circumferential cracks at locations of residual or built-in construction strain. This project...
Pipeline Research Council International Inc. (PRCI)’s Crack Management SRP has identified that circumferential cracking is challenging for pipeline operating companies. To close this gap the NDE-4-24 project aims to create a framework to identify, assess, and mitigate the risk due to circumferential cracking threats. Susceptibility to failure from circumferential cracking is linked to (1) circumferential cracks subject to increasing axial or bending strains due to secondary loading, or (2) growth in circumferential cracks at locations of residual or built-in construction strain. This project focuses on the first.
No single inline inspection technology can identify circumferential cracks co-located within areas of increasing axial and bending strain. While bending strains are reliably detected with inertial mapping in-line inspection (ILI/IMU), identifying increasing strain due to subsidence or ground movement geotechnical requires separate expertise. This project combines these into a framework to estimate the risk of a pipeline failure from circumferential cracks.
This work summarizes the process for evaluating risk treatment for the circumferential cracking threat, which is a key element in the circumferential crack management framework. The framework is compatible with the state-of-the-art risk methods used for other threats, intended to integrate into operators’ integrity management planning, and addresses the latest regulations and best practices adhered to by the industry.
Given the variety and limitations of current geotechnical and circumferential cracking models, not all of which are calibrated or probability-based, and the challenges in defining acceptable risk criteria, this deliverable describes methods for determining risk criteria, evaluating model effectiveness, and assessing risk treatment effectiveness. It also aims to assist operators in determining when risk has been genuinely reduced and when models are validated.