LIFETIME AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF PE PRESSURE PIPES BASED ON FRACTURE MECHANICS FATIGUE TESTS

摘要

The present paper describes the main elements of a novel concept for lifetime and safety assessment of PE pressure pipes for arbitrary installation conditions based on modern methods of fracture mechanics. At the core of the proposed concept is the accelerated generation of so-called ,,synthetic" crack growth curves and corresponding material laws for crack growth initiation and slow crack growth for service-near temperature conditions without the use of stress cracking liquids.