Design, Development and Testing of Optimized "Soft Crack Arrestors"

EMC2''s Phase II proposal focuses on continuing development of "Soft Crack Arrestors" through additional key material property, detailed analytical refinement of the design, and full-scale pipe validation testing. This material testing will be done over a range of temperatures to cover extreme conditions for future pipeline designs, with special attention to arctic applications. It is also essential to develop this data at the loading rates that arrestors will experience during a crack arrest event. With the material property data, the Emc2 crack arrestor design criterion will be used to design arrestors for subsequent full-scale validation. Emc2 also has the only high-energy full-scale burst test facility in North America for conducting large-diameter pipe fracture and crack arrestor experiments. Emc2 has been involved in conducting high-rate laboratory testing, as well as full-scale pipe crack arrestor testing in a series of proprietary research programs for various pipeline companies. In prior testing, Emc2 has also developed and published a design criterion for crack arrestors based on strength considerations, whereas the new Emc2 patent for "Soft Crack Arrest" covers ductility requirements as well.