Reliability Assessment of Pressurized Pipes with Inclined Defect

Abstract

Inclined defects in pipelines can lead to failures in the form of mixed mode fracture. A review of the literature suggests that few studies have been carried out on reliability assessment of pipelines considering mixed mode fracture. This paper intends to present a reliability-based method for assessing fracture failures of pressurized pipes with inclined defects. Richard's criterion is employed in the development of the limit state function for reliability assessment. A Stochastic model of load effects is developed, and first passage method with a developed analytical solution is used to predict the pipe failures. A worked example is provided to illustrate the application of the proposed method. The method presented in this paper can help pipe engineers and asset managers to develop a reliability-based maintenance strategy for better management of pipelines.