Engineering-Based Integrity Management
Establishing adequate pipeline integrity requires identifying specific threats, understanding their relationship to the condition of the pipeline, and establishing appropriate measures to ensure integrity. The pipeline industry has relied on many years of research and experience to develop a set of tools to perform qualitative analyses of pipeline integrity. With the implementation of the Integrity Management Program (IMP) by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA), the analysis methods and results must be defendable and well documented.
To assist the pipeline industry in their integrity management efforts, Stress Engineering Services has developed the Engineering-Based Integrity Management Program (EB-IMP®). The backbone of this initiative is the API 579/ASME FFS-1 Fitness for Service document; however, we have gone beyond the traditional API 579/ASME FFS-1 three-level assessment process to develop two additional steps that include assessment by experimental methods and development of repair techniques.
The EB-IMP® methodology is an outgrowth of Stress Engineering’s work for pipeline companies over the past 20 years in evaluating anomalies that include dents and mechanical damage using finite element analysis and full-scale testing. Additionally, Stress Engineering has led industry’s charge to evaluate composite repair technology for pipelines. This repair technology serves as the foundation for the EB-IMP’s Level V repair assessment.
Engineering-Based
Integrity Management Program Overview
Engineering Capabilities
Beginning in 1972, we have been serving companies in the pipeline industry by helping them tackle their toughest technical problems. We offer engineering expertise in a variety of areas including the following:
- Defect Characterization and Assessment
- Facility Assessments and Fluid Mechanics
- Laser Pipe Inspection
- Metallurgical Failure and Vintage Materials Analysis
