The crack-tip-opening displacement (CTOD) fracture toughness and Charpy impact energy of the base metal, weld metal and heat-affected zone (HAZ) of a pipeline girth weld were measured for several notch orientations, as well as for simulated HAZ regions produced using a Gleeble 2000. The results show that the CTOD toughness variability can be described by a weakest-link model and Weibull statistics. The present work illustrates how the toughness variability associated with girth welds in pipelines may be quantified for use in engineering critical assessment procedures.
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