NUMERICAL XFEM FRACTURE ANALAYSIS OF FRP REPAIRED PIPELINES

Tubular structures such as pressurized may experience different failure mechanisms in their lifetime. Existence of cracks may cause load capacity reduction, fluid leakageand structural collapse. Use of appropriate repair techniques is necessary to operate pipeline systems towards the end of their design service lives. High strengthfiber reinforced polymer composite (FRP) repair systems are easily implemented, and increasingly used for retrofitting and strengthening of steel tubular joints,inshore and onshore systems and offshore pipelines [1–3]. In this paper, XFEM is used for analysis of cracked pipes with composite wrappings. The stress intensity factor, as a main fracture criterion, is investigated in two cases of cracked pipe with and without FRP repair.