Refining the Hydrostatic Design Basis Assessment for Composite Pipes

Abstract This paper proposes a preliminary, supplementary testing approach aimed at refining the hydrostatic design basis assessment for composite pipes, which is crucial for oil and gas transportation under high-pressure conditions. The paper begins with an overview of existing standards and practices related to maximum allowable operating pressure and composite pipe longevity, highlighting limitations and opportunities for improvement. A short-term burst test based on the ultimate elastic wall stress (UEWS) principle is then proposed as a possible alternative to ASTM D2992 for requalifying family product variants. The proposed preliminary testing methodology is demonstrated by way of a limited demonstration test on two anonymized commercial composite pipe products. The demonstration test shows that, by using appropriate instrumentation, reliable strain field mapping, and robust statistical analysis, UEWS can offer a more practical means by which to requalify different product variations within the same family.