Assessing the accuracy of fatigue life in surface‐cracked straight pipes

The demonstration of leak before brake (LBB) based on fracture mechanics requires information on the initial size of a defect, initiation of crack growth from the inherent defect and subsequent crack growth rates. In the present paper the prediction methodologies have been tested for three different full scale pipes geometry experimentally tested data. The prediction accuracy of two SIF solutions available in the literature has also been judged. The effect of fatigue crack closure and corrections needed in the numerical prediction methodology using FEM have also been included. The results showed that the FEM could fairly predict the fatigue crack initiation and crack growth life of full‐scale piping components having a constant depth crack profile.