Plastic Collapse Stresses for Pipes With Circumferential Twin Flaws Using Combination Rules

When discrete multiple flaws are in the same plane, and they are close to each other, it can be determined whether they are combined or standalone in accordance with combination rules provided by fitness-for-service (FFS) codes, such as ASME, JSME, BS7910, FKM, WES2805, etc. However, specific criteria of the rules are different amongst these FFS codes. On the other hand, plastic collapse bending stresses for stainless steel pipes with circumferential twin flaws were obtained by experiments and the prediction procedure for collapse stresses for pipes with twin flaws were developed analytically. Using the experimental data and the analytical procedure, plastic collapse stresses for pipes with twin flaws are compared with the stresses in compliance with the combination criteria. It is shown that the calculated plastic collapse stresses based on the combination criteria are significantly different from the experimental and analytical stresses.