Reliability Assessment of Pipelines using Phimeca Software

The present work deals with lifetime management of underground pipeline for safe hydrocarbon transport. Reliability PHIMECA soft tool is used for assessing the tubular structure under active corrosion. Basically, three parts are presented. First, a theory of reliability methods is developed to make in evidence the design philosophy. Second, the concept of reliability analysis under PHIMECA soft is given to sort out the mechanical and probability models for a determined limit state function. Finally, a case study applied to an underground pipeline under severe loading and active corrosion is investigated in order to analyze the reliability. A PHIMECA report on the obtained result is given. The former approach concerns the experimental characterization of residual stress distribution in large diameter pipes to be coupled with a corrosion model. Along the pipe lifetime, the residual stress relaxation is involved due to the loss of pipe thickness as material layers are consumed out by corrosion.