New Equation for Failure Pressure Estimation on Curved Pipelines

Resumo

The present work aims to assess the influence of the curvature of the axis of corroded pipelines in
their failure pressure. Corrosion is one of the major causes of incidents in pipelines, whose integrity is usually
assessed through semi-empirical methods. When corrosion occurs in curves of pipelines, the literature on the
influence of the pipeline curvature in the remaining pipeline strength is very limited. The use of curved pipelines
arises from the need to overcome topological obstacles, being a solution commonly used to implement
adjustments to segments of pipelines. The use of curves in pipelines is even more evident on off-shore pipelines,
in which the installation process causes bending and curvature to the originally straight pipeline. The present
study will simulate and obtain failure pressure in curves of corroded pipelines using Finite Element Analysis
(FEA) provided by the PIPEFLAW software developed by PADMEC research group from UFPE. The results
obtained will be compared to those found by using Lorenz Factor (LF) and Nepo Factor (NF), a newly proposed
alternative factor to Lorenz Factor for failure pressure estimation on curves of corroded pipelines.