On the Effect of Corrosion Defects in the Collapse Pressure of Pipelines

The loss of metal in a pipeline due to corrosion usually results in localized pits with various depths and irregular shapes on its external and internal surfaces. The effect of external corrosion defects was studied via a series of small-scale experiments and through a nonlinear numerical model based on the finite element method. After calibrated in view of the experimental results, the model was used to determine the collapse pressure as a function of material and geometric parameters of different pipes and defects.