Hydrogen stress cracking (HSC) of buried pipelines under cathodic protection is one of the major concerns in the maintenance of gas transmission pipelines. It has been acknowledged that slow strain rate technique (SSRT) is a rather qualitative method for evaluation of HSC susceptibility, while it is necessary to evaluate fracture toughness of pipelines with defect under cathodic protection. A series of crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) testing has been employed to evaluate critical CTOD...
Keywords: Carbon Steel, Gas Pipeline, API X65, Hydrogen embrittlement, Hydrogen Stress Cracking (HSC), Cathodic Protection, Fracture Mechanics, CTOD, Maximum Tolerable Defect Size.