Structural Integrity Assessment for Various Failure Modes Using a Risk-Based Maintenance Method

In this paper, a newly developed system called RBM (Risk-Based Maintenance) is presented. The system is used to describe the structural integrity of buried pipeline based on the index of risk that is defined in the product of the failure frequency and the consequence. Various failure modes corresponding to each degradation mechanism are included, and the estimation of failure probability that the external load exceeds the structure resistance is carried out. As the result of trial evaluation compared with the past earthquake incident, it is in good agreement with actual damage of pipeline subjected to liquefaction and large ground deformation. Furthermore, the system enables operators to maintain the structural integrity for service life by providing the most optimized maintenance plan according to the risk level. The features of the quantitative risk evaluation approach and the benefits of the developed RBM system as a means of structural integrity assessment are also discussed.