Damage Assessment

Pipeline Damage Assessment

Knowing how to assess the types of damages that occur in pipelines is often challenging, especially considering the potential for failures. Additionally, operators are often hesitant to shut down operation or remove lines from service unless absolutely necessary. For this reason, Stress Engineering Services is frequently called upon to work with operators to assess the extent of pipeline damage.

Our damage-assessment approach is built on our experience from prior evaluations and draws heavily from resources involving finite element methods as well as a database integrating years of full-scale pipeline testing. Our goal is to help pipeline operators better position themselves to appropriately respond to pipeline damage using a methodology that permits the continued safe operation of their pipeline systems.

Anomaly classification is one of the most critical elements for assessing pipeline damage. It is the starting point that leads to a better understanding of the damage, characterization of the behavior, and predictability of the response. Although a wealth of information exists for a wide range of anomalies, it is often difficult to organize that information so that it is useful. The pipeline engineers at Stress Engineering Services possess the knowledge and expertise to review existing documentation to determine exactly what information is required to conduct an informed assessment.