Phenomenon of pipeline walking in high temperature pipeline

Abstract

The thesis describes the phenomenon of pipeline walking by specifically focusing on a short and high temperature pipeline and identifies key parameters of it in terms of the pipeline design. Moreover, a literature study on contributory mechanisms to cause pipeline walking is emphasized in the thesis including general pipeline technology in terms of the pipeline expansion design.

A numerical model of pipeline walking based on the thermal transient load is established by the finite element method in the thesis. It presents the effect of the transient temperature profile on pipeline walking. In addition to that, it focuses on the effect of axial friction factors related to pipe-soil interaction as the sensitivity study.

Lastly, the thesis briefly deals with possible mitigation options to prevent pipeline walking in connection with the sensitivity study results.