A Multiaxial Notch Fatigue Methodology to Estimate In-Service Lifetime of Corroded Cast Iron Water Pipes

Abstract

Abstract. The present paper summarises an attempt of using the so-called Modified Wöhler Curve Method (MWCM) to estimate fatigue damage in pitted cast iron water pipes subjected to in-service variable amplitude multiaxial fatigue loading. In this setting, pits are treated as hemispherical/hyperbolic notches whose depth increases over time due to conventional corrosion processes taking places in buried cast-iron pipes. The validity of such an approach is proven by showing, through a case study, that, under particular circumstances, the combined effect of corrosion and fatigue can remarkably shorten the in-service lifetime of cast-iron pipes as observed in the case study.