PR214-203804-R01 Systematize 20 Years of Mechanical Damage Research

This research was funded in part under the Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s Pipeline Safety Research and Development Program. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or the U.S. Government.

Research over the past 20 years has improved the pipeline industry’s understanding of the behavior and failure processes for mechanical damage. This new understanding of mechanical damage has influenced the methods that should be used to characterize and inspect pipelines for mechanical damage. This research and development work has resulted in a range of assessment tools considering feature formation strain, failure pressure and fatigue life assessment including the effects of coincident features such as corrosion, welds gouges and cracks. The industry has also completed research developing an understanding of appropriate remedial actions to mitigate the risk of mechanical damage features. Guidance documents defining recommended practices for characterization, assessment and remediation of mechanical damage have been developed and published.

To support the development of an improved understanding of the accomplishments of research, this project was completed to systematize the last 20 years of mechanical damage research. This report provides this summary in four mechanical damage subject areas including: Formation and Behavior, Detection and Characterization, Assessment and Management, and Repair and Remediation. The report also provides an overview of the treatment of mechanical damage in existing regulations and standards, identifying opportunities for improvement. Gaps in current mechanical damage understanding or tools are also identified as targets for further research. This work should be of interest to regulators, pipeline operators, researchers and engineering consultants or analysts as a description of the state of knowledge and developing a roadmap for future mechanical damage assessment and development.