Effects of Defect Shapes on Stress of High-Strength Steel Pipe Using FSI Method

High-strength steel pipes have excellent strength but have poor fracture arrest. By finite-element analysis involving fluid-structure interaction (FSI) method, models of high-strength steel pipe with three kinds of defects (triangle, rectangle and semi-ellipse) were built to determine the concentrated stress based on the working conditions of X70 pipelines in the West-to-East Natural Gas Transmission Project, and the simulation results were compared with the field test results measured by an X-ray stress analyzer. With the same defect width (2 mm), the triangular defect (40°) had a greater influence on the concentrated stress in the pipe than rectangular and semi-elliptic defects. The results can be taken as references of the damage failure process of the defect in pipes in operating conditions as well as a theoretical basis for the fracture arrest of pipes in field operation.