International Pipeline Conference — Volume 2

ASME 1996

IPC1996-1883

NUMERICAL MODELS FOR STATIC DENTING

AND DYNAMIC PUNCTURE OF GAS TRANSMISSION
LINEPIPE AND THEIR VALIDATION

Mures F.ZAREA
Dimitri N. TOUMBAS (Consultant)
Christian E. PHILIBERT
Isabelle DEO

Gaz de France, Research and Development Division

361 avenue du Pdt Wilson
93211 La Plaine Saint-Denis Cedex, France
Phone : 33 (1) 49 22 50 94, Fax : 33 (1) 49 22 58 91
E.mail : Mures.Zarea@DR.GDF.FR

A B S TR A C T
Gas transmission pipe resistance to external damage is a subject of great attention at Gaz de
France and in Europe. Existing results cover part of the necessary criteria for the residual life of
damaged pipelines, but more knowledge is needed on defect creation.
We propose to complement existing experimental work which is limited to the explored range of
parameters by validated numerical models.
The first, simple static denting model aims at optimizing the conditions for calculating the residual
stress distribution needed to assess the fatigue life of dents and dents and gouges.
The second, more complex dynamic puncture model calculates both the puncture force and the
puncture energy for a given pipe, excavator and tooth geometry.
These models can contribute to enhance the external damage prevention policies of
transmission pipeline operators.

1. INTRODUCTION
Gas transmission pipeline failure is mainly due to external damage : the failure percentage
related to external mechanical damage ranges from 55 % in the U.S.A. to around 70 % in Europe. The
european transmission networks being more recent than american ones, they are less subject to
corrosion. Hence, pipeline resistance to external damage like dents, gouges, dents and gouges, and
puncture is currently a subject of investigation in Europe. Two aspects have to be tackled in this
context:
(1) defect creation (i.e. comparing pipe resistance to the damaging capacity of the machinery)
(2) defect stability (i.e. whether the defect evolves to a leak or a break).
The second aspect is generally quite well understood, especially due to the power industry’s needs
(Miller, 1988), and has also led to specific developments for transmission linepipe (see Jones, 1982,
Kiefner, 1969, Kiefrier et al., 1973, Maxey, 1987, Muntinga and Koning, 1990). Nevertheless, subjects
like dent and gouge fatigue strength are not yet solved.
The first aspect is less known, except: some experimental evidence of part-wall defects created in a
laboratory by Battelle (Columbus), without relating pipe resistance to the damaging action, as well as a

Copyright © 1996 by ASME

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 simplified pipe denting model by Spieckhout et al. (1986). Semi-empirical criteria for pipeline
resistance to external damage already exist for some cases, like denting.
Puncture resistance is one of the subjects that are still evolving. Experimental data is available
(EPRG, European Pipeline Research Group, Chatain, 1993) but it does neither give complete insight
into the phenomena, nor cover the whole range of pipes.

2. SCOPE OF WORK
Gaz de France developed two specific 3D elasto-plastic finite element modeling approaches in
order to treat dent and gouge fatigue strength and puncture resistance, which are both related to
denting. Denting means deforming the pipe with an aggression tool (for instance, an excavator tooth).
This phenomenon is considered from different points of view according to the expected result:
- when studying dent and gouge fatigue strength, the variation of the residual stress distribution
between extreme pressures is sought
- for puncture resistance, local material failure is the relevant criterion.
We describe here the main features of these models, namely the handling of the various non-
linearities, their validation by comparing them to experimental results, and their range of applications.

3. PROBLEM DEFINITION AND MODEL CHOICE

The mechanical problem treated here is modeled by an impactor forced vertically on the
upper generatrix of a pressurized dosed-ended pipe resting on a V-shaped support (see Fig. 1). The
largest dimension of the impactor is aligned with the pipe generatrix.The external damage process is
either static - simulated by a hydraulic jack imposed displacement-, or dynamic, - simulated by the free
fall of an extended excavator arm from a given height. The range of velocities is : about 0.005 m/s in
the static case, and 3 to 5 m/s in the dynamic case.
This velocity range would indicate quasi-static modelling in both cases. But the ways in which the
loads are applied : imposed displacement in the static case, and imposed initial velocity and kinetic
energy in the dynamic case, lead to different modelling approaches. The static case can be modeled
as such, but the so-called "dynamic" case has to be treated by a technique which does not impose
force and displacement, the two latter being results of the calculation. "Explicit" finite element codes
solve this problem by taking into account inertia terms - here, those related to the excavator arm.
The main common feature of these models is that they take into account several non-linearities which
are critical in order to correctly describe denting : large displacements (and strains in the dynamic
case), elasto-plastic behaviour law with strain hardening, and contact

Figure 1 : Schematic illustration of pipe denting Figure 2 : Denting force vs. tooth displacement
(static m odel)

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 4. STA TIC DENTING MODEL

4.1. General model description

This model was developed to represent the mechanical state of a dented and gouged pipe, and
only the denting modelling is presented here (Toumbas and Meziere, 1995). It illustrates how contact
can be efficiently modeled when the FE code has no contact algorithm.
Actual defects can be quite long, so we made the simplifying assumption that the total length of the
dent is created at once. This allows for applying the load as an imposed displacement, and for a
simple treatement of the contact non-linearity, which is explained in more detail below.
The SYSTUS finite element code was used for this static model. Symmetries of the pipe and the loads
allowed to study only one quarter of the structure, leading to a reasonable mesh size (2800 nodes,
5400 elements). The mesh was refined in the impactor-pipe contact area in order to allow for accurate
tracking of the steep strain gradients. The minimum element size was in the order of magnitude of the
pipe thickness.
Thin triangular shell elements with linear interpolation for the shell's in-plane displacement and cubic
interpolation for bending were used. The shell element includes 9 stations in its thickness. The
updated-Lagrangian resolution method accounts for the large displacements non-linearity and small
strains.
The steel behaviour is represented by a non-linear stress-strain curve with isotropic hardening and the
Von Mises elasto-plastic criterium.

4.2. Contact modelling

W e looked for simplicity when treating this case, especially regarding the treatment of the
contact non-linearity by imposed displacements. This is a realistic assumption as long as the impactor
can be considered as very rigid. In previous studies, the denting process may have been simulated by
a displacement imposed directly to the pipe nodes. This loading "sticks" the denting tool onto the pipe,
and thus does not reflect the physical reality of the contact zone that changes during the denting
process. In order to overcome this limitation, some surface contact elements have to be used. The
SYSTUS code having no such elements for three-dimensional shell structures, we created a nodal
contact by using non-linear spring elements. In order to model the pipe/impactor reactions, we define a
fictitious one-side compression spring with normal stiffness K between the denting tool and the pipe .
The spring stiffness K is zero in tension and is given on the compression side by :

K = p»E«e (D

with : p : penalty coefficient, E : Young's modulus, e: pipe thickness.

The penalty coefficient p of these springs is an adjustable parameter. It represents the hardness of the
pipe material when it comes into contact with the impactor. Its value can vary from 0,001 up to 1, but
its influence on the results does not exceed 10 %. For the cases studied here, the value of p was
adjusted by comparison with experimental values, and then kept constant for all the cases.
In order to insure a good description of the changing extension of the contact zone, the springs are
positioned at all the pipe nodes which could get in contact with the impactor. Its shape is given by the
initial position of the springs associated to a initial gap, and the displacement is imposed to all springs
at the same time. The compressed springs are in actual contact, the others are not in contact as long
as their relative displacement is smaller than the gap. The total denting force is obtained by summing
up the reactions of all contact springs being activated during the vertical displacement of the impactor.

4.3. Static model validation

W e validated this model on several pipe diameters, either with internal pressure up to total
dents of 10 % of the diameter, or without pressure, up to total dents of 15 %.
Experimental data from static denting tests performed at Gaz de France was used for model
validation, where the impactor is a new excavator tooth. W e illustrate this validation procedure by an
example of a pressurized (load factor about 0.8) 914 mm diameter pipe dented by a 120 mm long

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 Case - Poclain Cal 60 tooth. Fig. 2 represents the evolution of the denting force versus impactor
displacement, which describes the global structure response. The maximum deviation between
computed and experimental results is about 9 % up to a total dent of 5.5 % of the diameter. This
shows that the linear contact hypothesis is well verified in this case, and that the simlified contact
model is well adapted to new teeth.
Simulated elastic-plastic springback (not presented here) compares also well with test observations.

4.4 Static model range of applications

This model gives satisfactory results for significant dents and was validated for narrow
impactor-pipe contact areas which are aligned with the pipe axis. In this case, the impactor length is
the only geometrical parameter, so it is simple and does not require precise impactor surface meshing.
This model is used for several purposes :
- determine the dent depth created by a given force (i.e. a given machinery)
- when combined with springback calculations, it allows to relate total and residual dent depths more
accurately than available techniques
- it gives the residual stress variation between extreme pressure values in the dented zone which
leads to the remaining life-time under internal pressure variation fatigue loading of the dent
- when combined with a local model, it is used to determine the remaining life-time under fatigue
loading of a dent and gouge.

5. DYNAMIC MODEL

5.1. General model description

Modelling the denting until puncture needs to add som e failure criterion, as described in details
below. In this case, the local phenom ena play an important role, so the tooth geometry and the contact
model have to be accurate. If in addition, the damaging process is due to the rapid loading imposed by
the large inertia of earth moving equipment (several tons), special explicit finite elem ent techniques
m ust be used. The short time scale associated with the puncture process - about 10 m s - indicate that
wave phenom ena might appear, confirming the need for explicit techniques. T hese criteria led us to
use the ABAQUS-Explicit FE code in order to develop our model (Zarea and Toumbas, 1 9 9 6 ).

5.2. Dynamic FE model description

The pipe puncture FE model w as built on the following principles :
- a quarter of th e total structure is studyied for symmetry reasons
- the impactor is modeled a s a rigid body, with a detailed surface meshing
- the impact-load is modeled by assigning to the impactor an equivalent m ass and an initial velocity
- friction is neglected
- the pipe is modeled with elasto-plastic quadrangular shell elements
- end caps are modeled a s rigid bodies
- the pipe rests without friction on the v-shaped support (radial displacement of the pipe-support
contact points is blocked)
- large displacem ents and large strains are taken into account
- the failure criterion is derived from the Gurson-Tvergaard model.
The shell elem ents are under-integrated, i.e. the surface integrals are obtained with a single
integration point. Along the thickness, the integrals are obtained with seven points of integration.
A static elasto-plastic behaviour law with isotropic strain-hardening is used. At large strains, the actual
law is extrapolated by a power-law.
The m esh contains about 7000 elem ents, roughly 2000 to describe the impactor surface geometry,
and 5000 elem ents are used for the pipe. The mesh is strongly refined in the impact area, the
minimum elem ent size being close to the pipe thickness. The smallest elem ent size determines the
tim e-step of the explicit algorithm : in our case, its value is about 10'? s.
The equivalent m ass assigned to the impactor is deduced, for instance, from the excavator arm
rotation inertia.

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 5.3. Ductile rupture mechanism : material softening
The Von Mises critérium generally used in elasto-plastic calculations is not sufficient for
predicting the actual failure of a steel structure under large ductile strain. The examination of ductile
rupture surfaces, given sufficient enlargement, shows the presence of voids around inclusions, which
play an important role in the ductile rupture mechanism. A ductile rupture evolves in three stages :
(1) void nucléation around inclusions, (2) void (or cavities) growth, (3) coalescence of cavities which
initiates a crack. On the macroscopic scale, this amounts to material softening.
The Gurson-Tvergaard (Gurson, 1977 and Tvergaard, 1981) model programmed into the
ABAQUS/Explicit code (ABAQUS, 1994) for shell elements is adapted to the representation of a
porous material. Material softening can be well described by this model. Failure appears when the
softening process accelerates strongly. This acceleration phase is triggered when the void volume
fraction f reaches a critical value fc and the material loses its resistance.

5.4. Model implementation and failure criterion

We follow the three steps mentioned above for the failure mechanism, which does not involve
any numerically introduced cracks.

5.4.1 Void nucléation. In this study we do not consider the energy necessary for void
nucléation. Additionnally, detailed modem steel microscopic observations show that inclusions are
rather spherical. Hence, the initial void ratio (or initial porosity fg with voids assumed to be spherical) is
equal to the inclusions volume fraction fvo/ ^ n ^ % . This value is calculated from the chemical
composition of the steel by using the Franklin formula (Bâtisse et al., 1986), given the volume contents
of Sulphur (S%) and Manganese (M n %) :

^vo?S % = 5-4*(S % -0.001 / M n% )

5.4.2. Cavities growth. The cavities growth ratio f/fg is given by the Gurson-Tvergaard
approach.

5.4.3. Failure criterion. To describe material fracture, we use the Beremin (1981) approach
based on the knowledge of the critical value for the cavity radius expansion ratio (R/Rq)ct- This results
in a sudden failure, rather than a progressive one in the Gurson-Tvergaard approach.
The ratio (R/Ro)crwas obtained by tests on axisymmetrical notched specimens of X52 steel (Réglé,
1995) by using the Rice and Tracey (1969) evolution law for R/Rq. This critical value was extrapolated
to steels of similar structure.
The critical ratio has to be related to the critical void fraction fc of the Gurson-Tvergaard model.
Following Rousselier (1986), we consider that the integral giving the evolution of the cavity radius
expansion ratio is equivalent to the integral giving the evolution of the void fraction f. Thus, we obtain :

For metallurgical^ clean modem steels the void fraction ranges between roughly 10-4 and 10"3.

5.5. Dynamic model validation

The dynamic puncture model was validated on several different diameter pressurized pipe puncture
experiments, including different tooth geometries. We illustrate this validation by a 406 mm diameter
pipe puncture test performed with a Case-Podain 170 C (32 tons) excavator and a 80 mm long Cal 44
new tooth (see Fig. 3 for mesh).
The equivalent mass of the tooth is about 2000 kg, and its initial speed is 4.42 m/s.

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 Figure 3 : Initial and deformed mesh at puncture (D ynam ic m odel)

The structure response in terms of force versus displacement is given in Fig. 4 for the dynamic model
computations and for the measurements.

T ooth d i s p l a c e m e n t (m m )

Figure 4: Pipe puncture: comparison of computation and experiment (D ynam ic m odel)

On these curves we observe that the pipe puncture experimental values are closely predicted by
calculations. The numerical and experimental loading curves follow very similar trends, with slight
differences probably due to vibrations of the pipe and of the excavator arm, the latter not being taken
into account in the numerical model.
Nevertheless, the deformation energy up to puncture is almost the same, close to 10,000 joules.
Element failure starts locally at about 75 % of the puncture force, and the total row of elements under
the tooth fails at the maximum force, materializing well tooth penetration. Thus, even though the
structure response differs after puncture, the puncture instant is well identified (see Fig. 4). The
assumption of negligible friction before puncture is also validated.
The divergence after puncture may be attributed to two factors :
- different failure mechanisms when the tooth enlarges the initial hole
- temperature effects not taken into account, which soften additionnally the material in the final
stage.
The residual dent profiles calculated at the end of the impact and after elastic springback are
compared to those obtained in the experiments (see Fig. 5). Good overall comparison is observed,

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 although experimental uncertainties concerning the bent-over end of the longitudinal profile does not
allow a full comparison.

lABAQUS/tMpHeit cod»/

figure 5 : Pipe radial and longitudinal profiles : comparison of computation and experiment
(Dynam ic model)

5.6 Dynamic model application range

Parametric studies involving different impact speeds showed that a threshold kinetic energy is
needed to puncture the pipe. Once puncture is achieved, the puncture force is quite reproducible for
given values of tube diameter, thickness, grade, internal pressure and tooth geometry.
This means that puncture criteria can be established or enhanced by means of the present dynamic
puncture model for a variety of pipes, excavators, and tooth geometries. It can economically complete
existing experimental work.
Such criteria can be used in two w ays:
- for design purposes, define the pipe characteristics ( wall thickness, steel grade) that makes it
puncture-proof for a given class of equipement.
- for operational use, define the machinery (tooth size, arm mass, maximum velocity and force)
which can be considered as harmless (unable to puncture) in the vicinity of a given pipe.
Such practical guidelines are out of the scope of this paper.
Additionnally, such a model can be used for dynamic denting modelling without puncture.

6.CONCLUSIONS
Numerical models for static denting and dynamic puncture were developed and validated. These
models take into account large non-linearities:
- large displacements and strains
- elasto-plastic material behaviour law
- contact between pipe and impactor
- ductile steel rupture at puncture (dynamic model only).
The simple static denting model contributes to assess the residual life-time for a fatigue loaded dent
and gouge defect, as well as for a plain dent.
The more complex dynamic puncture model can be used to develop puncture criteria which may
improve the gas transmission pipelines' external damage prevention policies.

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 Acknowledgements
We hereby kindly acknowledge the contribution of the team in charge of experimental work : Mr. G.
Dreyfus, P. Cardin, S. Inderbitzin, J. Halhal, J. Skrzypek, as well as Mr R. Bâtisse, A. Pineau, Y.
Mézière, and R. Champavère for useful discussions.

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