LPI engineers, Dr. Paul J. Murtagh, Dr. Robert S. Vecchio, and Andrew Smyth, recently completed a fitness-for-service analysis on a buried high-pressure gas transmission pipeline. The decade-old pipeline was suspected of containing potentially critical construction related weld flaws that were not identified at the time of construction.
Several representative sections of the pipeline were excavated and sent to LPI for material property testing and weld flaw size validation. A rigorous finite element stress analysis of critical portions of the pipeline was undertaken to determine the maximum stress expected. This analysis included the non-linear behavior of the surrounding soil and loads such as internal pressure, soil and traffic/train loads, thermal loading and seismic loads.
Using this information determined, the maximum allowable flaw size was deterministically calculated using the fracture mechanics based Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD) methodology. Furthermore, since all material properties exhibit natural scatter, and to address uncertainty inherent in nondestructive examination and flaw sizing, a probabilistic fracture mechanics FAD analysis was conducted to determine a probability of failure for the pipeline. This value was compared to allowable failure probabilities for other life safety critical applications such as a LOCA event in a nuclear power plant coolant system.
LPI recently used a motion amplification camera (MAC) system on a custom platform to measure vibrations on the main steam lines at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station.
The Importance of Area in Probabilistic Degradation Models
Come visit LPI at the CLM Midwest Conference in Chicago! LPI, Inc. will have a table top exhibit at the CLM Midwest Conference in Chicago, IL June 14th-15th 2018. We invite you to stop by our table top booth to talk with Dr. Zuhair Ibrahim to learn ab
Erosion–corrosion is a complex material degradation mechanism involving mechanical erosion and electrochemical corrosion.
LPI partners with Argonne to support nuclear power plant operations
At LPI, we use a variety of such programs to tackle a diverse group of client projects that may involve failure investigations, anomalous operational conditions, or new design.
LPI's reputation for providing reliable fitness-for-service skills to clients is well known. Perhaps less well known, however, but equally a core service it offers to clients, is LPI's ability to enter a product's design cycle early on and provide expert
Integrated Life Cycle Management model developed by LPI, Inc.
LPI was requested to perform an engineering evaluation of a fractured expander wheel to determine the root cause of failure and corrective actions required to prevent future failures.
LPI Principal Joseph Crosson, P.E. was included in a profile of the original classes of Certified Welding Inspectors (CWI) featured in the February 2016 issue of Inspection Trends, a magazine published by the American Welding Society (AWS).
Sri K. Sam Sinha, P.E., Managing Director of LPI Inc., has been appointed as a member of ASME Board on Pressure Technology Codes and Standards for a term effective January 2016 through June of 2020.
