3-D CRACK MODELING CASE STUDIES FOR FITNESS-FOR-SERVICE ASSESSMENT USING WARP3D AND FEACRACK

Two case studies are presented to investigate the use of 3-D crack meshes in Warp3D FEA for FFS assessments. A focused type crack mesh is used for ductile tearing analysis to determine if a cylinder model can be used as approximation for a pipe elbow. The limiting flaw curve results comparison shows an elbow model is needed to obtain more accurate results. A cell type crack mesh is used to examine pipeline hydrotest pressures to cause fatigue crack retardation by crack face closure. The test pressure giving the most benefit is determined by comparing crack closure results from several load cases.
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