DUCTILE FRACTURE OF A PIPE WITH A PART-THROUGH SLOT

A model of ductile fracture of a pipe with a part-through slot has bee n constructed. The upper- and lower-bound estimates have been obtained for the fracture-inducing pressure. The former is the computation mad e for a part-through crack, the latter, for an axisymmetrical three-di mensional defect. It has been shown that when the defect half-width b( 0) = 2 root Rt(n) where R is the pipe radius and t(n) is the net thick ness of the pipe wall, the defect can be treated as axisymmetrical. Th e results of the ductile fracture pressure determination are presented in the form of formulae and curves. The calculated values of fracture pressure are compared with the data from the literature obtained from testing full-scale pipes. The results obtained can be useful in the a nalysis of real defects in pipelines (corrosion pits, voids, etc.), as well as in full-scale testing of pipes and pressure vessels.