On the Propagating Buckle and Its Arrest

Author: Kyriakides, Stelios

Year: 1980

Degree: Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Advisor: Babcock, Charles D.

Committee Member: Unknown, Unknown

Option: Aeronautics

DOI: 10.7907/c81x-nk02

Abstract

If an offshore pipeline locally buckles in the presence of sufficiently large external pressure, a propagating buckle is initiated. The buckle propagates along the pipeline until it encounters a region of adverse conditions -- low pressure or an arresting device. The lowest pressure at which a buckle propagates is defined as the Propagation Pressure. An experimental study of this quantity is presented and a semiempirical expression derived by examining various models of the phenomenon. The dynamics of the Propagating Buckle are also examined and a parametric study of the steady state velocity of Propagation is carried out. A systematic way of empirically deriving the parametric dependence of arresting devices is presented and experimental results of two such arrestors are discussed. During this study a unique "flip-flop" mode of propagation was discovered and studied. An explanation of the phenomenon is also attempted.

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