“…When assessing the fracture capacity of the pipeline, the fracture resistance properties of the pipeline girth weld will also be taken into consideration. From the experimental results of the previous study [16], it was demonstrated that when the tests were performed at 180°C, the reduction factor in the fracture resistance was up to 0.6 times for the backing steel (consisting of C-Mn steel) and 0.8 times for the nickel based weld metal/fusion line. Hence, for the same marginal reduction in crack driving force as a result of an increase in operating temperature, it is preferable to use nickel-based welding consumables versus C-Mn steel based ones since the former gives a lower reduction in fracture resistance.…”