Full scale 4-point bend setup of pipes
Full scale bending with internal pressure (64bar) of a ball joint pipe with OD of 400mm.
Features:
- Varying internal water pressure between 32 and 64 bar at 0.5 Hz pressure frequency.
- Outer support distance of 4800 mm and inner support distance of 1200 mm.
- Maximum vertical bending load up to 1500 kN.
- Maximum bending angle of 15° at each side (30° in total) measured with 2 inclinometers.
- Strain measurements by means of strain gauges and Digital Image Correlation (DIC)
Application:
Old pipelines used a ball joint to introduce a bend in the pipeline. The ball joint was positioned at the desired angle and welded together.
Objective:
Determination of the weakest position of the ball joint ( four-point bending = constant, maximum moment over the entire ball joint length) and assessment of the remaining (fatigue) lifetime with internal pressure.
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