On the quality factors of girth welded joints of oil pipeline facilities

UDK: 620. 1

DOI: 10.24887/0028-2448-2026-7-140-143

Key words: girth welded joint, defect, lack of penetration, incomplete fusion, crack, repair structure, in-line inspection, reliability, durability

Authors: S.V. Skorodumov (The Pipeline Transport Institute LLC, RF, Moscow); R.N. Salikhov (The Pipeline Transport Institute LLC, RF, Moscow); D.A. Gavrilov (The Pipeline Transport Institute LLC, RF, Moscow)

In the paper, the authors summarize the experience of studying the quality factors of girth welded joints in pipeline transport facilities for oil and oil products. Typical approaches to studying girth welded joints are described including the following: macro- and microstructure of welded joint cross-sections, a description of standard and special tests of laboratory samples taken from welds, hardness measurements in various zones of welded joints and metal along the crack edges, and fractographic analysis of crack surface is given. In addition, the authors of the paper reveal the subtle aspects of the studies: the use of various non-destructive testing methods at the first stage of the studies to identify the defectiveness of girth welded joints and its compliance with the requirements of industry regulatory documentation, the use of local chemical analysis methods for monitoring the phases composition in welds, and comparison of results obtained by different methods. Among the most frequently encountered factors are the following: manufacturing defects of welded joints (lack of penetration, incomplete fusion, slag lines, pores); associated earthworks with deviations from the standard operating procedures of their execution and generation of excessive bending stresses in adjacent girth welded joints; installation of repair structures that generate additional bending stresses in adjacent girth welded joints.

References

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