A Study on the Internal Pressure Bearing Performance of Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Polyethylene Composite Pipes

Abstract

To address the issues of the poor corrosion resistance and the low safety of the metal pipes used for oil and gas transportation, a glass-fiber-reinforced polyethylene thermoplastic composite pipe was developed. The finite-element analysis was employed to investigate the internal pressure resistance of each layer of the pipe. The impact of the winding angle, layer number, and diameter-to-thickness ratio were investigated. The optimum performance of the pipe was achieved when the ± 45° winding angle was set, but the layer number and diameter-to-thickness ratio met the relevant standards. To calculate the maximum bearing pressure of the pipe, two methods were compared: using the Tsai–Hill failure criterion and theoretical calculation of bursting pressure. The analysis revealed that the Tsai–Hill failure criterion better reflected the pipe failure situation.