Analysis for wrinkling behavior of girth-welded line pipe

The paper presents results foe finite-element analysis of full-sized girth-welded specimens of line pipe and compares these results with the behavior exhibited by test specimens subjected to constant axial force, internal pressure, and monotonically increasing curvatures. Recommendations for the "best" type of analytical finite element model are given. Comparisons between the behavior predicted analytically and the observed behavior of the experimental test specimens are made. The mechanism of wrinkling is explained and the evolution of the deformed configurations for different drinking modes is examined It is concluded that the analytical teals now available are sufficiently reliable to predict the behavior of pipe in a manner that was not previously possible and that this should create a new era for the design and assessment of pipelines if the technology is properly exploited by industry.