Local buckling failure analysis of high-strength pipelines

Pipelines in geological disaster regions typically suffer the risk of local buckling failure because of slender structure and complex load. This paper is meant to reveal the local buckling behavior of buried pipelines with a large diameter and high strength, which are under different conditions, including pure bending and bending combined with internal pressure. Finite element analysis was built according to previous data to study local buckling behavior of pressurized and unpressurized pipes under bending conditions and their differences in local buckling failure modes. In parametric analysis, a series of parameters, including pipe geometrical dimension, pipe material properties and internal pressure, were selected to study their influences on the critical bending moment, critical compressive stress and critical compressive strain of pipes. Especially the hardening exponent of pipe material was introduced to the parameter analysis by using the Ramberg–Osgood constitutive model. Results showed that geometrical dimensions, material and internal pressure can exert similar effects on the critical bending moment and critical compressive stress, which have different, even reverse effects on the critical compressive strain. Based on these analyses, more accurate design models of critical bending moment and critical compressive stress have been proposed for high-strength pipelines under bending conditions, which provide theoretical methods for high-strength pipeline engineering.