ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the burst pressure and the ultimate bending moment of intact and corroded pipes by nonlinear Finite Element numerical calculations. The application of adequate boundary conditions plays an important role in the numerical analysis. The presence of local thinning areas on the pipe surface due to corrosion can also limit the capacity of a pipe to sustain single and combined loads, such as bending moment and internal pressure. A parametric study regarding the main dimensions of the corrosion defect is conducted. The objective is to understand the effect of parameters, such as depth, length or width of the defect on the ultimate bending moment and burst pressure of corroded pipelines. From these parametric studies, it is clear that the depth and the length of the corrosion defect have an important role in the assessment of the pipe burst pressure.
