Subsize Experiments and Numerical Modeling of Axial Rupture of Gas Transmission Lines

The experimental facilities and the numerical modeling for studying dynamic axial rupture of pressurized subsize pipes are reviewed. Selected results from 46 pipe rupture tests and related numerical analyses are used to show that the axial flap stretching is the dominant energy sink, the crack tip opening angle (CTOA) is a viable ductile crack extension criterion, and there exists a crack tip strain field which promotes crack curving at arrest.