Finite Element Models for the Prediction of the Failure Pressure of Pipelines With Long Corrosion Defects

PETROBRAS is conducting a research project with the purpose of investigating the behavior of pipelines with long corrosion defects. In the first phase of this project a database containing the results of nine burst tests of tubular specimens with flat bottom defects was generated. The second phase of the project aims at appraising the performance of two different finite element models: a shell model and a solid model. This paper describes the application of these models in the analysis of four tubular specimens of the PETROBRAS database. The failure pressures predicted by the two types of finite element models are compared with the burst pressures measured in the laboratory tests. Also a comparison between the results obtained by these models is presented. It is concluded that the solid model is more accurate than the shell model, but both models proved to be capable of simulating the corroded pipe burst tests adequately.