Buckling behavior and failure mechanism of gas pipeline in explosive shock wave environment

Abstract

Explosion is one of the primary factors influencing the safety of gas pipelines. To investigate the bucking deformation and failure mechanism of gas pipeline in an explosion shock wave environment, a study was conducted on the stress, deformation, center deflection and energy variation of the pipeline. The analysis was grounded in elastic-plastic theory and utilized the finite element method. Additionally, the study delved into the impact of explosion distance, diameter-to thickness ratio, and charge quantity on the dynamic behavior of pipeline. The research results revealed that high-stress and plastic strain regions emerge on the pipeline during initial loading, causing compression on the outer wall and stretching on the inner wall. As the loading process progresses, the zero circumferential stress surface shifts towards the outer wall, ultimately leading to cracks and pipeline failure. Furthermore, the study observed that pipeline deformation exhibits a direct correlation with charge quantity and an inverse correlation with the diameter-to-thickness ratio. As the explosion distance increases, the center deflection of the pipeline abruptly decreases and then stabilizes. Concurrently, the influence of the diameter-to-thickness ratio and charge quantity on pipeline deformation diminishes. The difference of diameter-thickness ratio gives rise to various failure mechanisms and modes. Finally, the engineering prediction model of the maximum deformation of pipeline is obtained. The study offers valuable insights and references for pipeline design, safety assessments practices.