International Pipeline Conference

2012
Willard A. (Bill} Maxey
Distinguished Lecture Series

"Fracture Initiation, Propagation, and Arrest"

From
PRCI 5th Symposium on Line Pipe Research
November 1974

W. A. Maxey
Battelle-Columbus, US
[Presented on behalf of Bill, by Gery Wilkowski]

Andmore...Athensbursttests ductile and

brittle fracture propagation

Andmore... Dentandgougeflaws

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And more underwater burst test

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Thenandnow ...........
No computers,no internet,
no digital data acquisition,
no spreadsheets,
no finite element simulations,
just good
old fashion engineering

Introduction and Embellishments

Original paper outline below
Illtryandsayhowsomeofthesedifferenttopicsarestill
used today and changes.

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Fracture Initiation Predicting Failure Pressure

Fracture Initiation referred to initiation of ductile
fracture during pressurization to burst pressure

Not initiation of subcritical crack growth by fatigue, SCC, etc.

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Fracture Initiation Predicting Failure Pressure

Used Folias bulging factor for a through-wall crack in a thin shell

Bulging from pressure increased the axial-crack-driving force

From elastic shell-theory analyses, but incredibly works reasonably well
in elastic-plastic and limit-load fracture regions!
Still used in many Codes and Standards

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Fracture Initiation Predicting Failure Pressure

When bulging factor put in Dugdale strip-yield model (also called
the lnsec equation), then as toughness approached , then you
have the limit-load solution

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Fracture Initiation Predicting Failure Pressure

Hahn introduced the concept of flow stress as a stress level
between yield and ultimate strength for an elastic-perfectly
plastic material, but we still needed practical definition of flow
stress

Maxey statistically determined that flow = yield + 10 ksi , which

for the pipe materials at that time was about the same as flow =
(yield + ultimate)/2 used in more recent fracture mechanics
models

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Fracture Initiation Predicting Failure Pressure

Next, needed a practical measure of ductile fracture toughness.

Bill looked at Charpy impact energy as that simple practical toughness

measure.
From the full-scale pipe fracture tests with axial through-wall cracks the
Charpy energy divided by the Charpy specimen fracture area correlated
incredibly well with the Kc calculated from pipe fracture tests.
This'was'also'called'an'apparent'toughness,'since'it'was'also'known'that
there is stable ductile crack growth before burst pressure reached, but
analysis did not do crack growth calculations.

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Fracture Initiation Predicting Failure Pressure

The axial through-wall-crack model was extended to surface

cracks, first by recognizing that the bulging factor for a surface

crack needed to be established.

Bill developed Equation 6 by looking at pipe test data where the

toughness was high enough that limit-load should occur.
This formed the technical basis for B31G/RSTRENG, and axial
surface crack solutions used in codes and standards throughout the
world!

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Fracture Initiation Predicting Failure Pressure

When he combined all of the different aspects together
(bulging, flow stress, toughness, surface cracks), the
resulting solutions was incredibly good!

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Fracture Initiation Leak-Before-Break (LBB)

LBB predictions of axial flawed pipe could also be made by
comparing the surface crack failure curves to the through-wallcrack failure curve.
Surface crack geometries that fail at pressures above the TWC
curve are ruptures (breaks).

a/t = 0.1

Failure stress/flow stress

a/t = 0.25

Break
a/t = 0.5

TWC curve
Leak

a/t = 0.75
a/t = 0.9

2c/(Rt)0.5

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Fracture Initiation Transition Temperature

Bill (and Kiefner) presented some interesting pipe test results on
how the transition temperature might be different for fracture
initiation than propagation

FPTT = fracture propagation transition temperature

FITT = fracture initiation transition temperature

Althoughhedidntgettoageneralsolutions,thoseresultsand
others he developed were used to develop a Fracture Transition
Temperature Master Curve for axial or circumferential surface or
through-wall cracks in pipes and plates.

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The Long Lasting Aspects

The basic axial through-wall and surface cracks solutions are
still being used today

B31G/RSTRENG corrosion flaws are the SC limit-load solution

Nuclear piping (ASME Section XI, JSME, French RCCM, German,
Russian, etc. codes and standards
API 579 for chemical plant piping
Steam generator tubes
Pressure vessels

Ofcoursesometweakingbeingdone...

J-R curves used for fracture toughness that accounts for change in
toughness as the crack grows in a stable manner up to maximum
pressure
Charpy to J-R curve relationships changing with new materials
Examining bulging factors for TWC and SC in elastic-plastic
regions, with different SC a/t and 2c/Rt geometries

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Fracture Propagation and Arrest

Perhaps this is the area that Bill is most renown

Brittle Fracture

Not know as well for that work should be

Ductile Fracture

Developer of the Battelle-Two-Curve model

Started with ideal gas equations for lean natural gas
(mostly methane), and expanded to using equation-ofstate software developed by others, i.e., GasDecom

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Brittle Fracture Arrest

Since may old pipe lines only had Charpy data, and very
occasionally DWTT data, Bill extended the Irwin-Corten linearelastic fracture mechanics solution to a practical brittle fracture
analysis tool.

Crack driving force = G = 0h2R/E

Resistance was characterized as the Charpy energy that had the
same shear area as the DWTT at the operating temperature.
Could have used DWTT energy directly, but there was no API standard
to measure DWTT energy (even though most mills do it anyway).

Combining the driving force and resistance for minimum toughness

for brittle fracture arrest gives:

CVP*SA%(of DWTT at operating temperature)/Ac = 0h2R/E

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Brittle Fracture Arrest

Not only did that separate arrest versus brittle fracture
propagation, but Bill also could determine if there was 1, 2, or
more brittle fracture that would propagate axial at the same time
if the toughness was a fraction of the crack driving force.

2 or more cracks
8 or more cracks
These two figures from

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Brittle Fracture Arrest

Ductile Fracture Arrest The Two-Curve Method
Bill developed the ductile fracture arrest model currently called
the Battelle Two-Curve (BTC) analysis. Bill never called it that, it
was simply the ductile fracture arrest analysis.

So what are these two curves in the BTC model?

There is one curve that represents the gas decompression behavior.

That is essentially the crack-driving force
The second curve is a combination of pipe geometry, strength,
toughness, and backfill restraint that Bill developed
BillliketocallthesecondcurveaJ-curvebecauseoftheshape.

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Ductile Fracture Arrest Gas Decompression

Gas decompression needs to be considered since ductile fractures

propagate slower than initial acoustic velocity (Va) in gas,
As gas expands is cools and the instantaneous or decompressed acoustic
velocity (Vd) decreases since the gas density increases,
Decompressed wave speed of gas is instantaneous acoustic velocity
minus outward flow velocity
Initial Va natural gas about 1,300 fps ductile fractures typically 300 to 1000 fps

Ideal gas is isentropic expansion, and Bill used 1D, full-opening steadystate decompression curve
No effects of surface roughness or pipe diameter

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Brittle Fracture Arrest

Ductile Fracture Arrest Gas Decompression
Gas decompression analyses became more complicated with
different fluids in the pipe

Rich natural gas needs an equation-of-state program to obtain the

decompression curve isentropic expansion of the fluid, which
coolsdownanditsdensitychanges. Thedensityisthenusedto
determine the instantaneous acoustic velocity.
GASDECOM was implemented from the work at ExxonMobil, and still
pretty darn good!

Bill also applied the dynamic ductile crack propagation work to

nuclear pipes pressurized with subcooled water.
As the fracture progressed, the subcooled liquid water would very
rapidly drop to the saturation pressure and stay there for a long range of
decompressed velocities (Vd x fluid density changes when going from 0
to 100% quality steam).

Then the approach was expanded to liquid CO2 pipeline

applications, which was very similar decompression behavior to
subcooled water for a nuclear plant
CO2 two-phase boundary complicated by impurities

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Ductile Fracture Arrest BillsJ-curve

BillsJ-curve came from dynamic measurements of ductile
fracture speeds and decompressed pressures measured as the
crack was travelling at that speed.

The curves were different for buried pipes than pipes with no
backfill leading to a backfill coefficient (the constant)
As pressure drops, there was a minimum fracture speed related to a
parameter Bill called the Arrest Pressure or Arrest Stress (Pa or oa)
that was rooted in the concept that there was an effective crack
length during dynamic crack propagation.

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Ductile Fracture Arrest BillsJ-curve

DatausedtoestablishtheArrestStressbyuseofthe ln-sec
fracture initiation equation

For high toughness cases crd /crflow = 0.30 which is 1/MT (bulging
factor of a dynamic running crack); or MT = 3.33
Knowing MT from limit-load case, he solved for toughnessdependent cases using Charpy energy

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Ductile Fracture Arrest - Examples

Examples of Two-Curve
analyses predictions for;
propagation, quick arrest, and
eventual steady-state arrest

Propagation at 700 fps

Quick Arrest

Minimum Arrest Condition

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Simplified Equation Developed

Bill conducted statistical analyses using BTC
equations to establish a simplified equation for lean
natural gas pipelines
Implemented into Codes and Standards, typically with
restriction for; lean gases, diameters less than 42-inch,
pressures 72% SMYS or lower soil backfill....
Many other simplified equations developed afterwards

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Brittle Fracture Arrest

But how quickly can a ductile fracture arrest?
Bill showed data where arrest distance was function of
(actualCVP)/(Cvmin for eventual arrest)

Depended if arrest;
in origin pipe joint (need to develop full-bore opening),
or arrested after going thru a prior joint of pipe away from the origin effects

30-inch diameter pipe tests

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The Long Lasting Aspects and Tweaking

After ~40 years the BTC method is still the industry standard approach

OfcoursesometweakingbeingdonetoBillsTwo-CurveApproach...
Different backfill coefficients developed
Effect of different soil types, effect of soil burial depth, frozen soil, water
backfill Toughness aspects
Dynamic toughness not proportion to Charpy energy for high Charpy energy
materials (Fearnehough, Wilkowski, Leis,..)
Separations on fracture surface of controlled-rolled steels separations appear at
different temperatures in Charpy test than full thickness pipe or DWTT - first
reason why DWTT energy proposed
Grade effect corrections for X80 & X100 but showing it may really be steelmaking changes over the decades that now affects even some X60-X70
Recent work showing dynamic toughness changes as a function of fracture speed
empirically accounted by Bill for older steels, but what about new steels?

Gas decompression curve improvements

GASDECOM rewritten to be more stable in PRCI code PipeDFrac
to be released Many other equations -of-state developed Effects
of pipe diameter and roughness

Even new sophisticated dynamic FE models of crack propagation

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Billandsomeofhisfriends... wellmisshim!
J. Kiefner, A. Duffy, J. Ryan, R. Eiber, F. Syler, G. Kramer, P.
Krishnaswamy, J. Rue, B. Gertler, P. Vieth, M. Rosenfeld, D.
Shoemaker,C.Baxley,J.Wood,... me

Sorryifwedidntgetyouinapicturehere!

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