Fracture Control Plans

An important consideration in the design of a new pipeline or the maintenance of an existing line, especially ones transporting natural gas, is a strategy for preventing the occurrence of brittle failures and limiting the propagation of any failure. The industry has developed techniques to model pipeline failures and to quantify the amount of toughness needed to resist fracture initiation and fracture propagation. Individuals at Kiefner & Associates have conducted full-scale burst tests, measured fracture velocities in line pipe and developed methods for evaluating a material's resistance to fracture initiation and propagation. Let us put our experience and understanding of pipeline fracture behavior to work for you. The benefits of conducting a fracture control analysis are:

• For new pipelines - determining the fracture toughness requirements for the operating conditions so that the line pipe can be procured with adequate resistance to fractures.
• For existing pipelines - evaluating the effects of different operating parameters on the fracture resistance of the pipeline and creating or modifying maintenance procedures to address the issues created by the inherent fracture toughness properties.
• Our pipeline specialists can assist you with the following: •Developing a comprehensive fracture control plan for new or existing pipelines
• Evaluating operating conditions to determine their effects on toughness requirements
• Determining the level of toughness needed to assure adequate fracture resistance
• Minimum toughness levels for line pipe material specifications
• Methods for measuring, estimating and using line pipe toughness data

Our experts include: the developers of the B31G/RSTRENG methodology; an individual who has managed smart-pigging programs for a major pipeline operator; and individuals who have pioneered the concept of "operational reliability assessment" for a pipeline. Call us to discus your pipeline problem in confidence. We also provide a training course called Pipeline Reliability Assessment.