DefinePK

Abstract

The presented study discusses repair structures, which are applied for restoration of load bearing capacity of sections of main pipelines having corrosion damage on surface of a tube. It is demonstrated that the most widely used in repair weld union can effectively decreases stresses in walls of tubes only in the case it is mounted without a gap. In order to increases efficiency of the repair structure it is proposed to place an elastic layer between a tube and a union, which can fill space and transfer a part of load from a tube to a sleeve. The material of elastic layer must be \soft" enough to tightly fill the gap between a tube and a union taking into account roughness of a tube's surface and have quite big modulus of elasticity, which allows transferring load from a tube to a union. The study contains analysis of influence of modulus of elasticity of the elastic layer's material on efficiency of the repair structure. It is demonstrated that in order to satisfy the conditions, mentioned above, the material must have modulus of elasticity in the range 1,000 MPa < ? < 3,000 MPa. Optimum conditions are met in the case of elastic layer made from polymer materials, such as low-pressure polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinylchloride.