Analysis of corroded pipelines using simulation techniques has become an essential step for the evaluation of the residual ultimate strength of damaged pipes. Problems with multiple corrosion defects present highly complex geometries mainly when the defects are close enough to produce interacting stress fields. In such cases it is easier the mesh generation with all-tetrahedral elements using mature algorithms implemented in commercial programs like Ansys or Patran. The use of all-tetrahedral meshes in many applications yields to less accurate analysis results. Unfortunately, the algorithm for mesh generation of all-hexahedral elements is much more complex than the generation of all-tetrahedral element mesh. Currently, the problem associated with general all-hexahedral element mesh algorithm is a research subject in progress.This paper presents a new algorithm for the mesh generation of all-hexahedral elements to be used in the analysis of damaged pipelines. The algorithm is currently under development and was designed to deal with any number of corrosion defects of arbitrary shape. The application of the new methodology is demonstrated performing the mesh generation of models with one, two and three corrosion defects in order to demonstrate both efficiency and robustness of the new methodology. Finally, computer simulations for the generated models are performed in order to determine the failure pressure of the damaged pipes. The obtained results are compared to the values predicted by the standard DNV RP-F101.
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