Proceedings of the ASME 2022 13th International Pipeline Conference

IPC2022
September 26-30, 2022, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

IPC2022-87046

USE OF INERTIAL MEASUREMENT UNIT IN-LINE INSPECTION DATA TO SUPPORT CODE

STRESS COMPLIANCE AND INTEGRITY EVALUATIONS

Jonathan Prescott Curtis Patterson

Stantec Consulting Ltd. Stantec Consulting Ltd.
Calgary, AB, CA Calgary, AB, CA

Arfeen Najeeb
Husky Midstream General Partnership
Calgary, AB, CA

ABSTRACT support a variety of decision making is discussed. The IMU data

Pipelines are an essential segment of infrastructure required is a key data input when constructing detailed finite element
to transport a variety of products to markets in our economies. models for on-going stress analysis studies.
The integrity and safe operation of those pipeline necessitates
that pipeline operators have a thorough understanding of their Keywords: Pipeline, IMU, ILI, stress design, code
pipeline systems, their configuration, and the changing compliance, integrity
operating condition within their pipeline networks. Inertial
measurement unit (IMU), a technology that can measure the NOMENCLATURE
angular rate and acceleration and when combined with global HMGP Husky Midstream General Partnership
positioning and navigation equipment such as pipeline above DoC Depth of Cover of backfill above top of pipe.
ground markers, can calculate position and orientation with 6 IFC Issued-for-construction.
degrees of freedom: x, y, z, and pitch, roll, and yaw. IMU ILI In-line Inspection.
launched within the pipeline via in-line inspection tool trains, IMU Inertial Measurement Unit.
can be used to develop accurate three-dimensional geometry of PL Pipeline.
the pipelines they inspect. This information can be used to Field bend (or cold bend) A pipe bend constructed from a
confirm the geometry of the pipeline (i.e. degree of roping, bend joint of straight pipe in the field at time of PL
angle, bend radius, and other abnormalities observed within the construction.
generated centerline from the inspection based on conventional Hot bend (or induction bend) A bend that is
construction practices). Therefore, the application of IMU prefabricated utilizing induction heating.
technology within pipeline design and integrity work can be a Roped bend A large radius bend formed by elastically
useful tool in providing the necessary input information which deflecting straight pipe within the trench.
can support ongoing studies such as verification of maximum Over bend A pipe bend oriented such that the PL direction
operating thermal differentials which can be imposed on a change occurs in the vertical plane, with the
pipeline to remain compliant with governing pipeline codes, bend apex oriented downward.
and/or the information can be used to perform gap analysis Sag bend A pipe bend oriented such that the PL direction
studies with other integrity records (alignment sheets, as-built change occurs in the vertical plane, with the
pipe tallies), or to support other pipeline integrity evaluations. bend apex oriented upward.
When IMU data is processed with mathematical techniques Side bend A pipe bend oriented such that the PL direction
essential information from IMU data can be obtained such as change occurs in the horizontal plane.
bend angle, bend radius, and degree of installed curvature. A Alignment Sheets
case study showing the results of the application of processed Drawings containing IFC design details
IMU data for as-built evaluation is presented and its use to help intended for pipeline construction.

1 © 2022 by ASME
 PL expansion compressive force from the upstream and
downstream PL legs form a couple moment (with
1. INTRODUCTION moment-arm distance), resulting in high bending
stresses at one or both bends.
HMGP Partnered with Stantec to perform stress analysis on • Over bends are constructed in a configuration that was
a newly constructed pipeline to confirm that the pipeline was not accounted for in the generic models. For example,
built and compliant per the IFC design specification and details. unforeseen variations in the nearby DoC or soil types
For buried pipelines to be code-compliant (to codes such as can cause stress concentrations at bends.
CSA Z662 Section 4, or ASME B31.3), engineering stress design
is required, and is often completed using Finite Element Analysis
(FEA) software, whereby the pipeline, soil and loadings are For the reasons outlined here, there is a risk that newly
modelled together. Some of the factors that affect the stress constructed pipelines are built and installed outside their
design include (but are not limited to) temperature differentials, intended design specification or boundaries and may not be
pressure, wall thickness, material grade, bend radius, the relative code-compliant for example at certain bends. This potentially
position of bends with respect to one another, pipe-soil- warrants additional detailed stress analysis to re-evaluate design
interaction and changes in soil parameters along the PL. conditions to ensure code compliance.
Typically, bends are locations with the largest imposed stress To ensure that pipelines are built meeting the code-stress
demand, i.e. areas which exhibit the highest stress, in the PL and requirements, and to increase accountability of the construction
therefore proper design and construction of the bends is contractor and engineering designers, or to de-rate the
important. constructed PL to a lower MOT (maximum operating
In this case study, it is observed that IFC drawings were not temperature) and/or MOP (maximum operating pressure) to
followed precisely during PL construction resulting in portions meet code stress requirements, FEA simulation of the as-built
of a PL that do not meet the original stress code compliance for pipeline is becoming more common immediately after PL
the design temperature and pressure. For example, code stresses construction. To perform this type of analysis, the as-built PL
may be exceeded if: centerline and the as-built depth-of-cover (DoC) survey data are
• A bend is constructed with radii tighter or significantly incorporated into an FEA model, where stresses are checked
different than specified in the IFC alignment sheets. against the allowable code stresses.
• A bend’s location is changed from IFC design. To obtain an accurate centerline profile including the bend
• Bends near each other are combined into a single bend. radii, IMU/ILI tools can be run through the newly constructed
• A single large radius bend is constructed with multiple pipeline and are able to capture an accurate 3D-spatial profile of
smaller bend angles spaced apart, each with much the centerline coordinates at finely spaced intervals, suitable as
tighter radii. input to an FEA model with minimal additional processing of the
• A bend constructed with an incorrect wall thickness. data. There can be some “drift” in the ILI coordinates, and above
ground markers (AGMs) are used to “tie”, or to correct the
Additionally, depending on the stress modelling approach, centerline profile data to these known coordinate points. With
elevation changes of the pipeline along the route may not be fully accurate centerlines generated from IMU, the local changes in
included in FEA model, due to various reasons including that it curvature (such as at bends) are sufficiently captured, and FEA
is difficult to predict the exact elevation profile of the pipe trench analysis can be completed confidently using the data.
prior to trench construction. Often a detailed graded (elevation) ILI pipe tallies will often include a summary listing of
profile is not available for the stress analysis, and other analysis bends and their radii, locations of changes in wall thickness, and
methodologies are used to generate generic IFC design location and descriptions of anomalies or metal loss features
recommendations for the required over and sag field bend along the pipeline, as a function of 3D axial position along the
parameters (i.e., minimum bend radii, bend thickness) as a PL centerline (3D chainage). It is noteworthy that the ILI report
function of soil type and bend angle and provided as a table summary tables produced by most ILI tool vendors typically
within the IFC package such that the contractor may follow those only list bends with bend angles greater than or equal to 5° as
recommendations as they construct the over and sag bends. this is a typical reporting threshold. However, in the stress FEA
However, often the methodology used to predict the minimum PL design, bends with angles less than this can be overstressed
required bend radii and thickness does not consider the and building centerlines capturing all bends (detailed IMU) is
complexities and instabilities associated with bends interacting necessary. It is therefore important to construct the FEA model
with one another. Therefore, code stresses may also be exceeded utilizing some form of the high-resolution ILI data rather than
if: from the ILI summary report data (i.e. welds and >5° bend
• Neighboring over and sag bends interact in such a way locations) provided by the vendor. This detailed centerline
that was not considered in the generic analysis. For coordinate data can be requested from the ILI tool vendor, often
example, an over bend and a sag bend could be in increments of approximately 10 centimeters. It is desirable to
constructed near enough to one another, such that the request a sufficiently large number of decimal places in the ILI
coordinate data points from the tool vendor, if the raw data is to

2 © 2022 by ASME
be used to generate the model. For example, if only three decimal function of the operating conditions (predominantly pressure and
places are provided in each data point coordinate (assuming temperature), the pipeline attributes (diameter, thickness,
coordinates are in meters), and each point is spaced 10 young’s modulus), the soil conditions along the length of the
centimeters apart, and if each point is used to generate an FEA pipeline (effective cohesions, soil friction angles, unit weights,
PL model centerline “node”, numerical round-off error alone can depth of covers) which describe the soil strengths so that the
result in “kinks” in the FEA model elements or mesh, that can proper pipe-to-soil interaction can be captured, amount of piping
cause numerical error due to artificial stress concentrations or contained within the model (virtual anchoring i.e. modelling a
incorrect flexibility in the modelled pipe in the axial direction. sufficient amount of buried pipe such that the frictional force per
To avoid the geometric round-off error and kinks, one may either unit length of pipe provides enough resistance to halt the
request more decimal places from the ILI vendor, construct the expansion of the pipeline), sub-dividing the model into short
FEA model with fewer more spaced-apart node points, or apply enough elements to adequately capture the structural response
a smoothing algorithm to the points if care is taken to preserve precisely [2]. Structural element types and finite element solvers
the local pipe curvature. It is also important to understand the used to perform the calculations can also impact the accuracy of
numerical precision of the datasets within the FEA software, for the final stress results as each element type contains certain
example coordinate system data may only be stored with single limitations or simplifications within its definitions. For example,
precision floating-point format which also may lead to round-off the application of either beam or shell elements within the model,
error if a very long pipeline is being modelled. and the use of either small displacement or large displacement
One important aspect of buried gathering/ transmission solvers. A summary of the objectives and methods for
pipeline system design is the design of pipeline bends. Bends performing buried pipeline stress analysis are provided in
require special attention during the design of a pipeline system sections 8 and 9 of the American Lifelines Alliance document
as there is a higher likelihood of greater demands being imposed Guidelines for the Design of Buried Steel Pipe.
on the pipeline within those areas. This is due to the fact that It is evident that the accuracy of any generated stress model
pipelines when subjected to operational loads such as pressure at a design stage is contingent on the accuracy and reliability of
and temperature have the potential to develop large the inputs provided to the software package, the assumptions
displacements due to their long length. At changes in direction, made within the stress models to simplify the analysis at the time
accommodated by bending the pipeline in those areas, of design, as well as how closely the final as-built geometry at
displacements can accumulate within those areas due to the time of construction matches the specified design. During
pipelines restraint condition. Important factors controlling the construction of the pipeline, observed soil properties may differ
restraint condition of a bend are the loads imposed on the from those used within the design due to economic and time
pipeline system, the bend angle, bend radius, as well as the local limitations in gathering soil samples at discrete locations along
soil properties. The aforementioned factors are key in the pipeline right-of-way. For example, there are inherent
determining whether any bend effectively behaves as fully uncertainties introduced into the design as the geotechnical
restrained, partially restrained, or unrestrained. As defined analysis is often completed at discrete points and does not
within CSA Z662-2019, a bend which is “unrestrained” can capture the actual continuum of soil conditions along the pipeline
strain along its length and move laterally, “fully restrained” of length that the pipeline will be installed in. This soil continuum
course is the opposite condition whereby the pipe does not strain is inferred from the discrete geotechnical data obtained and
axially or move laterally [1]. Bends commonly fall within a desktop studies performed and subsequently used in the stress
scenario described as “partially-restrained” as indicated within analysis, whereby the geotechnical report would contain enough
the CSA Z662 Clause 4.7.3 where the code highlights the need soil data along the length of the pipeline to satisfactorily capture
to pay particular attention to expansion of pipe within areas that the pipe-soil interaction physics. During construction, actual soil
are partially restrained due to unacceptable movement or stress layers and observed soil stratigraphy can potentially differ than
or strain at points where pipelines terminate, change direction, or the assumptions used in design. Changes to the 3D centerline of
change size [1]. the pipe can occur due to a number of requirements in the field
A common methodology within industry for the design of which depending on procedures may initiate request for
buried PL bends is to apply the code stress requirements for information (RFI) to accommodate those changes. In certain
restrained portions, unrestrained portions, as well as limit the instances, there could be a break-down in communication and
stresses to within the elastic region of the stress-strain curve of procedure between the pipeline contractor and operator with
the material. This approach while not discussed within CSA changes made to the 3D centerline of the PL without
Z662 is discussed in other PL standards, refer to appendix I4.3 consideration for the impact to its design.
partially restrained pipe of the AS/NZS 2885.1:2018 standard As the industry continues to use materials with higher grade
and is a conservative approach to pipeline bend design [2]. allowing for greater pressures to be imposed to the pipeline
The total elongation and displacement into any bend is often system, and simultaneously applying higher thermal
determined through the use of 3rd party software packages of differentials, to move the intermediate/ end products required to
which there are several available for licensing within the market. provide our economies with the energy products it needs,
As previously mentioned, critical factors into calculating the demands on pipeline systems are increasing and will likely
displacement, and state of stress or strain at any bend is a continue to increase over time.

3 © 2022 by ASME
1.1 FORCES AT BENDS

Elongation of pipe at bends is the result of the application of

internal pressure within the pipe which causes outward (direction
indicated in Figure 1) thrust forces and thus outward movement
at the bend. Additional to pressure elongation, thermal expansion
of the pipe steel causes displacement into/out of a bend due to
the thermal differences being applied along the pipeline. The
change in temperature is the difference between the maximum or
minimum operating temperature and the pipe to soil restraint
temperature which depending on the installation condition can
results in expansion or contraction at the bend from thermal
loading. Other effects at bends include bend twisting and
ovalization at or near locations of curvature of the pipe. This
ovalization is known to increase the flexibility of the pipe, and
upon yielding of the extreme outer fibers can result in a FIGURE 2: EXAMPLE LONG RADIUS ELBOW, BEFORE AND
significant loss of stiffness [3]. If not properly accounted for, the AFTER PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE APPLIED TO BURIED
loads could result in wrinkle formation, ratcheting, or plastic PL SHELL MODEL (DEFORMATION SCALE 50:1)
hinging at the bend.
Figure 1 shows a diagram of thrust forces acting at a bend and Figure 2 shows an example of a buried pipeline bend surrounded
the resultant force acting along a direction from the intrados to with soil with displacement scale set to a factor of 50:1 to
the extrados of the bend. The resultant force (𝐹𝐹𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 ) is directly exaggerate the distortion so that the change in shape can be
proportional to the applied internal pressure (𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖 ) and internal readily seen on the before (bottom) and after (top) views. The
cross-sectional area (𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ) of the pipe and also a function of the example shows an NPS 8 pipe with 4.8 mm wall thickness,
bend angle (𝜃𝜃𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 ) [4]. The thrust force illustrated here is only modelled in Abaqus with shell (S4R) elements, showing the
due to internal pressure, however one must also consider the resulting deflection and flattening of a 1.5D radius 45° bend. In
thermal expansion forces of the upstream and downstream this case, ovalization was 2.4%. In this model, the applied
piping, which can have an even higher resultant load (in the same internal pressure was 0.7 MPa with a temperature differential of
direction as shown in Figure 1), especially when pipelines are 22°C was applied. Typical soil parameters for sand were used for
operated at high temperatures. It is for this reason that high the pipe-to-soil interaction.
temperature pipelines are of particular concern if IFC design Figure 3 shows a color contour stress plot of the same bend
parameters are not followed for bends, during construction. shown in Figure 2 for two different bend radiuses. In Figure 3
(a) a 1.5D bend radius is shown, and in (b) a 3D bend radius is
shown. The change in stress between the two conditions shows
the importance of understanding the impact of bend radius on the
stress intensification occurring at the bends. Not only does the
larger radius bend reduce stress levels, but it also reduces the
ovalization and deflection of the bend. One reason being that the
lateral loads acting between the extrados of the pipe bend and the
neighboring soil are spread out over a larger area with larger
radius bends, reducing stress concentration on the pipe as well as
increasing the overall load carrying capacity of the soil at this
location due to the larger contact surface area [5].
FIGURE 1: THRUST FORCE AT A BEND DUE TO INTERNAL
PRESSURE [4]

4 © 2022 by ASME
 computing the local curvature of the PL centerline over a sample
of different gauge lengths along the bend [6, 7]. Equations and
methods can be referred to in references 6 and 7. The start and
end of bends are identified by curvature strains that would
require field bending to have been used to change the pipe
geometry. The bend angle can be computed utilizing the two
vector tangents at the start and end locations of each bend. The
results of mathematically processing the IMU data and obtaining
an as-built “bend listing” as well as listing the locations where
there are changes in wall thickness among other things, can be
used against prescribed design data to show where deviations
were made during construction. For this work, curvature strains
were calculated using an osculating circle from within an
identified osculating plane and average across different
FIGURE 3: COLOR CONTOUR STRESS PLOT COMPARING proportion of arc lengths (gauge lengths) spanning across the
STRESS FOR 1.5D (LEFT) AND 3D (RIGHT) BEND RADIUS midpoint. The average radius from seven (7) arc lengths
UNDER THE SAME LOADING CONDITIONS
increasing from 40% to 70% of a total bend arc length at 5%
increments was found to provide reasonable results.
2. METHODS
2.2 IDENTIFICATION OF DEVIATIONS FROM DESIGN
2.1 APPLICATION OF IMU TECHNOLOGY TO
SUPPORT AS-BUILT DESIGN EVALUATION Figure 4 shows a graph of having performed this exercise for
a pipeline whereby the y-axis as calculated by equation 1 shows
Inertial measurement unit technology attached to an in-line a radius ratio, a ratio of the specified bend design radius to the
inspection tool has seen wide adoption and use within the radius calculated processing the IMU data, and the x-axis is the
pipeline industry. The technology when used along with several bend angle.
accurate control points along the length of a pipeline such as 𝑅𝑅𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
surveyed valves and AGM’s can be used by the in-line inspection 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 = (1)
𝑅𝑅𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼
vendors and geospatial engineers to correct for drift and error
within the raw data collected from the IMU device providing an A radius ratio of unity shows those bends where the
accurate pipeline centerline. The output from IMU has shown to construction bend radius matches the specified design bend
be very effective at providing satisfactory detail with regards to radius. As can be seen in Figure 4, for this particular PL, a
the spatial positioning of pipelines within the right-of-way. A number of 90º induction bends were procured for its
common reference frame to use for the geospatial data for North construction. The bend records from induction bends when
America is NAD83 (CSRS). IMU is also used to monitor for on- compared to the IMU show very good agreement and this control
going changes to the pipeline centerline due to several external dataset provides confidence that the processed IMU data
factors acting on buried pipes over time. Additionally, it is satisfactorily captures bend data for comparison to as built data.
becoming more commonplace to also use the technology after For this project, no additional verification was performed to
construction activities are completed to obtain an initial verify the accuracy of IMU at detecting out-of-specification
configuration of the pipeline at the time of construction. bends. A radius ratio larger than one (1.0) indicates bends that
Obtaining baseline IMU data such as this will also be very were made with a tighter radius. Some common bend radii within
beneficial when supporting ongoing engineering evaluations the construction of a pipeline are shown in Table 1. A radius ratio
within pipeline integrity programs in a variety of instances: of four (4) could indicate for example an overbend specified as
geohazard assessments, new crossings, evaluation of one-quarter degrees per diameter (0.25º/D) was actually bent to
imperfections under combined loading conditions. one degree per diameter (1.0º/D). Values less than one (1.0)
The geospatial information obtained from the IMU (latitude, indicate the opposite, bends that were bent with a larger radius
longitude, yaw, pitch, roll) can be converted to Universal as compared to the specified design. Figure 5 shows the standard
Transverse Mercator coordinates and translated thus providing a deviation in the bend radius calculation for a variety of bend
cartesian coordinate description of the pipeline. Resampling, angles. Bends less than 5º show very large standard deviation
spline interpolation, or other techniques can be used to smooth and a possible limitation of IMU tools in accurately capturing
the centerline profile (i.e. by reducing the noise in the measured small angle bends due to the size of the in-line inspection tool
positional data) to provide a continuously smooth space curve to and bend arc respectively for small angle bends.
describe the pipeline [6]. At changes in direction such as at
bends, this space curve can be evaluated to obtain metrics such
as bend angle and bend radius. This can be achieved by

5 © 2022 by ASME
TABLE 1: COMMON CONSTRUCTION BEND RADIUS by the much higher values of the standard deviation, in particular
when bend angles are less than approximately two (2) degrees.
Bend Radius (º/D) Bend Radius (#D)
Bends with angles this low can become overstressed, and still
1.50 38.2 require design consideration. As shown in Figure 6, there are a
1.25 45.8 handful of bends less than 5 degrees that have stress ratios of
1.00 57.3 about 1.10. To remain conservative and for completeness, no
0.75 76.4 bends were excluded from the evaluation.
0.50 114 Figure 4 clearly shows that deviations were taken during the
0.25 ~225 construction for all bend types and that deviations were not
specific to one category of bend (except in this case, the 90°
prefabricated bends were constructed per IFC design
specification).

FIGURE 4: RADIUS RATIO VERSUS BEND ANGLE

FIGURE 6: STRESS RATIO VS. BEND ANGLE

2.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF AS-CONSTRUCTED

DEVIATIONS

To evaluate the significance of the as-constructed deviations

on bends which occurred when building the pipeline, additional
stress analysis modelling was carried out. The purpose of this
modelling was to re-evaluate the state of stress and strain for the
as-built pipe configuration for the maximum design conditions
(pressure and temperature).
The pipeline system and pipeline under review by the
operator were built to transport low vapor pressure oil and gas
product at a moderately high temperature. For example, one
particular segment of pipeline within the system had a nominal
pipe size of twelve inches (12) and had design conditions of
9.930 MPa for design pressure and a maximum operating
FIGURE 5: BEND RADIUS STANDARD DEVIATION VERSUS temperature of eighty-five degrees Celsius (85ºC). The pipe-to-
BEND ANGLE soil restraint temperature given the geographical location and
time of construction was assumed to be zero degrees Celsius
Five degrees (5º) is a common reporting threshold used by in-
(0ºC). For this particular segment, the pipelines material grade
line inspection vendors and when summarizing bends within ILI
was originally specified and procured as Gr. 414 MPa.
pipe tallies. For bends greater than five (5º) degrees the mean
Figure 7 shows the re-evaluated stress ratio as a function of
standard deviation in the bend radius (#D) across all bend angles
the radius ratio. There is a trend that suggests a low radius ratio
was calculated to be 3.6D. Similarly, for angles less than five (5º)
(<1.0) generally results in stress compliance, and for high radius
degrees it was calculated to be 11.4D, and as shown in Figure 5
ratio (>1.0) many of those bends are shown as overstressed,
there is a much greater uncertainty in the bend radius as shown
keeping in mind that not all of them are overstressed, as there are

6 © 2022 by ASME
many other factors involved. For example, the original stress of methodologies such as strain-based approaches, the original
a bend at a particular location prior to the deviation from the design specification for this pipeline did not have this design
design as well as the influence of nearby bends which can impact approach in mind and certain design parameters that would have
the degree of restraint at a partially restrained bend are important been controlled particularly those related to the manufacture of
factors determining whether any deviation in bend radius would the material are now fixed (YS, TS, YS/TS ratio, strain
have a significant impact on the stress state. hardening, uniform elongation, total ductility).
Refinements to the as-built FEA model can be performed,
reducing the level of conservatism. For example, the following
FEA stress analysis scenarios can be evaluated if the PL has not
been constructed as per design:
• Initial IFC design pressure and temperature
• Scenarios with re-certified MTR’s to account for
additional material strength
• Scenarios taking into consideration refined soil
properties and as-built DoC placed over the PL
• Design pressure and reduced maximum operating
temperature scenarios from 85ºC to 65ºC by 5ºC
increments
• Scenario’s considering temperature specific profiles
based on calibrated thermal modelling of the pipeline
with known temperature transmitters along the pipeline
• Equivalent stress calculated using alternate yield FIGURE 8: HISTOGRAM FREQUENCY OF BENDS WITHIN
criterions such as maximum shear stress and distortion BINNED STRESS RATIO (TRESCA)
energy methods
• If stresses remain problematic after exhausting all Table 2 shows the number of overstressed bends when
model refinements, warranting mitigations, additional evaluated to IFC design conditions was considerable. The
stress analysis could be performed, evaluating the findings showed a significant number of bends were estimated
effectiveness of installing thrust blocks, screw anchors, to be overstressed from the stress modelling. Performing any
additional depth of cover, etc… at the over stressed mitigations for this number of bends is simply not practical and
bends was determined to be cost prohibitive based on the number of
bends that were overstressed. Additional stress modelling
scenarios were completed based on accepted terms by the
operator allowing for refinement to the model. These
refinements effectively decrease the margin of safety inherent in
the original design and increased the accuracy of the stress
models in estimating the actual state of stress. During these
investigations, the number of overstressed bends reduced
incrementally as the stress modelling was refined. The final
scenario required the operator to build temperature profile
models of the pipeline system calibrated to current operations so
that the model could be considered sufficiently accurate at
predicting future operating changes. The planned operating
changes were to increase the thermal loading of the pipeline to
obtain greater throughput on the product, therefore, the pipeline
FIGURE 7: TOTAL EQUIVALENT STRESS (TRESCA) VERSUS system temperature profile modelling needed to be able to
RADIUS RATIO accurately predict future operating conditions. Once the
temperature profile model was completed, the stress analysis was
Figure 8 presents a histogram describing the quantity of bends re-evaluated for a temperature specific profile. The results show
within binned stress ratios and describes the number of all bends falling below the accepted stress criterion which is
overstressed bends for different evaluated stress analysis mainly due to the fact that the overstressed bends were located
scenarios. Most of the non-compliant bends had stress ratios at intermediary points along the pipeline length and benefitted
below 1.14 %SMYS (Tresca); however, there are a number of from a thermal decay thereby reducing the thermal loading
cases, ~15 bends, that have higher stress levels with stress greater acting on those bends which were previously failing the
than 1.14 %SMYS (Tresca). The higher the stress ratio of the evaluation. The percentage reduction in overstressed bends
bend the greater is the concern due to the demand imposed on shows the effectiveness of the various mitigation approaches
the material. While these bends could be evaluated to alternate from the previous scenario with regards to the original number

7 © 2022 by ASME
of overstressed bends. Increasing the stress criterion from 0.90 compared to if the design specifications and details were
to 1.0, recertifying MTR to higher grade where appropriate, followed. Additionally, there could be economic costs
reducing the maximum operating temperature, and applying a involved as operators may not be able to fully utilize their
point specific thermal profile were all very effective means at pipelines upon commissioning if there is a need to perform
reducing the quantity of overstressed bends, as is shown in Table
subsequent as-built studies, gather additional information
2.
to prove out fitness-for-purpose, or to perform mitigations
TABLE 2: PROGRESSION OF AS-BUILT STRESS as a result of the high stress levels, such as lowering the
ANALYSIS1, 2, 3, operating temperature of the pipeline which could reduce
Max. Depth Percent operator revenue.
Operatin of Soil Reduction of
Scenario
g Temp. Cover Properties Overstressed
(ºC) (m) Bends ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
IFC Design
baseline case all
Stantec would like to thank Husky Midstream General
(0.90 stress
85 1.8 m
IFC
over stressed Partnership the opportunity to work on these projects and the
ratio using Design
Tresca)
bends (-0%) paper for this conference.
Increased
Stress Ratio
85 1.8 m
IFC
-35%
REFERENCES
Criterion 0.9 → Design [1] CSA Group, “CSA Z662:19 Oil and Gas Pipelines”, CSA
1.0
Reduction in
Group National Standard of Canada, June 2019, pg. 88-146
Maximum IFC [2] Joint Technical Committee ME-038 Petroleum Pipelines,
80 1.8 m -18%
Operating Design “AS/NZS 2885.1:2018 – Appendix I Pipe Stress Analysis”,
Temperature Australian/New Zealand Standard, Nov 2018, pg. 208-216
Refined Soil [3] L.C. Peng, Alvin Peng, “Pipe Stress Engineering: 3.7
80 1.8 m Refined -4%
Properties
Incorporating Pressure Effects on Piping Flexibility” ASME Press, 2009, pg.
As- 80-82
As-Built Depth 80 Refined -7%
Built
of Cover [4] American Water Works Association (AWWA), “M11 Steel
Recertification Pipe A Guide for Design and Installation 5th Ed.: Chapter 8
As-
of Mill Test 80 Refined -23%
Reports
Built Thrust Restraint for Buried Pipelines”, AWWA, 2017, pg. 161-
Stoner Model -13% 166
As-
Temperature Varies
Built
Refined (No bends over [5] L.C. Peng, Alvin Peng, “Pipe Stress Engineering: 10.3
Profile stressed) Pipeline Bends” ASME Press, 2009, pg. 339
Note: [6] James Stewart, “Early Transcendentals Calculus 5 Ed.:
1
Abaqus Standard 2019 was used for all stress calculations Chapter 13 Vector Functions” Brooks/Cole (Thomas Learning
2
several different elements were compared within the project (Pipe 31 and Elbow Inc.), 2003, pg. 848-885
31) [7] D.G. Honegger, “Guidelines for Constructing Natural Gas
3
The entire pipeline was modelled within the FEA software program
4
total equivalent stress was calculated using 2 methods: maximum shear stress
and Liquid Hydrocarbon Pipeline Through Areas Prone to
theory (tresca) as well as the maximum distortion energy theory (von Mises). Landslide and Subsidence – Appendix B” Pipeline Research
Tresca was used to align with the original design. Council International Inc., January 2009, pg. 164-166

3. CONCLUSION

Pipelines designed to transport products which require

elevated temperatures to obtain viscosity and pumping
requirements as well as those installed in cold climates
with moderately elevated maximum operating
temperatures need particular attention to their bend design
as the demand on the pipeline can subject bends to high
stress levels. Both operators and builders need to have an
appreciation for the design placed into the pipeline
centerline and apply the necessary controls and procedures
to ensure design specifications are followed. If not, there is
risk that the pipeline could become non-compliant with its
design specification leading to a pipeline that could
provide lower reliability and margin of safety over time as

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