This section details the results of the analysis and experiments
for the pipe and pipe welds. The crack growths in depth and length
directions along with crack shape have been considered for the
comparison of experimental and analytical results. Typical beach
marks on the fracture surface of the tested pipe are shown in Fig. 6.
In all the cases, the growth in crack depth (a) and crack length
(c) directions have been plotted with respect to number of cycles.
The plots show the experimental results along with analytical
predictions (schemes B & C). Crack growth in depth and length
directions for pipe welds SSPW 6-3 and SSPW 6-7 have been shown
in Fig. 7 and 8 respectively. The crack aspect ratio of SSPW6-3 and
SSPW6-7 are 4 and 12 respectively.
Figs. 7 and 8 show that in both the tests, predictions using
scheme-C compare reasonably well with experimental values in
both the directions. However, scheme-B resulted in overestimation
of crack growth.
The crack growths in depth (that is ‘a’) and length (that is ‘c’)
directions from experiment and analysis for pipe SSPB 6-9 are
shown in Fig. 9(a) and (b) respectively. The initial crack aspect ratio
for this case is 10. Fig. 9(a) shows that predictions using both the
schemes compare well with experiments but scheme-C gives