Failure Assessment of Thin-walled Structures with Particular Reference to Pipelines

Book excerpt: This book describes integrity management procedures for thin-walled structures such as gas pipelines. It covers various methods for the analysis of crack growth in thin-walled structures and the probability of failure evaluation of pipelines using the Monte-Carlo simulation.The focus of this book is on the practical applications of the boundary element method, finite element method and probabilistic fracture mechanics. Popular methods for SIF calculation, crack growth are presented and the evaluation of failure probabilities based on BS7910 is also explained in detail. The procedures described in the book can be used to optimise the maintenance of pipelines thereby reducing the operating costs. This book will be of interest to pipeline engineers, postgraduate students and university researchers.