L00034 Preventive Measures for Stress-Corrosion Cracking Fracture Initiation and Fracture Propagation

This report reviews the status of the on-going research to investigate preventive measures for stress-corrosion cracking, the mechanism by which stress-corrosion cracks unite to form critically sized defects, and methods for preventing the initiation and propagation of fractures from a cluster of stress-corrosion cracks. It is important to remember that this report is based on research that is in progress and that has not been completed. Consequently, the findings must be considered as tentative and subject to alteration depending upon the nature of the future research results. However, since it may be advisable to take some action to prevent future stress-corrosion-cracking failures before all of the research has been completed, this report was prepared to provide a summary of our present understanding of the situation. The discussions in this report are not directed to any particular pipeline.