LAUSR

The strength of pipeline with multiple corrosion patches depends on the number of corrosion patches within an area on the pipe surface, the locations of corrosion patches along the longitudinal and circumferential directions of the pipe. In this paper, the strength and deformation characteristics of corroded pipeline are investigated using finite element analysis. Pipes with different diameters and different depths of corrosion patches are considered. The spacing of the corrosion patches is varied along longitudinal, diagonal, and circumferential directions of the pipes. The study shows that the limiting spacing for interaction of corrosion patches depends predominantly on pipe wall thickness, corrosion depth, and the location of the defects. The diameter of the pipe has some influence on the interaction for large diameter pipes. A new interaction rule for the limiting spacing for interaction is developed for longitudinally spaced corrosion patches. For circumferentially spaced corrosion patches, the ASME...