Numerical investigation of the SIFs of the external surface crack in rigid pipe reinforced with FRP

Fatigue is one of the major challenges of offshore rigid pipes. The surface crack is the main manifestation. Fatigue cracks are evolved from surface cracks which are frequently appear in the external surface of rigid pipes. Under fatigue loads, the surface cracks may continue to propagate and finally develop into penetrated cracks, which may cause leakage and serious accidents.Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthening technology is already a reliable technique for structure maintenance in onshore pipelines and penetrated cracks in load-bearing circular hollow sections (CHS). Nevertheless, the research gap of surface crack in rigid pipes reinforced with FRP is seriously restricting the development of FRP reinforcement application.This paper aims to investigate the surface crack growth in the external surface of rigid pipes reinforced with FRP under bending. Stress intensity factors along the crack front are computed through finite-element (FE) models. The numerical results show that under FRP reinforcement, surface crack growth rate decreases significantly which ensures the safety use of rigid pipes in offshore industry.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport Engineering and LogisticsMarine and Transport TechnologyShip Design, Production and OperationsSupport Marine and Transport Techolog