Stress-corrosion cracking of steels used in trunk gas pipelines : I. Catastrophic failures

The paper presents the results of an analysis of data on catastrophic corrosion cracking of tubes of transmission gas pipelines in the Uraltransgaz, Tyumentransgaz, and Severgazprom associations. A significant decrease in the periods of trouble-free operation of pipes was established for tubes (primarily made of foreign steels such as X60 and X70) that were installed in recent years (1981-1989), in comparison with domestically produced tubes that have been in use since 1967.