Entries by Structural Integrity

News & Views, Volume 43 | In-Line Inspection – An Improvement Over Pressure Testing for Pipeline Integrity Management

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By:  Scott Riccardella, Dilip Dedhia, and Peter Riccardella  Structural Integrity recently performed probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) analysis of a gas transmission pipeline for a major U.S. operator.  The analysis yielded interesting insights in several areas: Pressure Testing versus In-Line Inspection Pressure testing has long been considered the gold standard for assuring pipeline integrity.  By testing […]

News & Views, Volume 43 | Perforation, Scabbing, and Reinforcement Optimization in an Aircraft Impact Analysis (AIA)

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By:  Eric Kjolsing Background A 2016 project utilized a variety of Structural Integrity competencies to analyze a beyond design basis threat at an overseas nuclear power plant.  The client was assessing a plant design and approached Structural Integrity to investigate local perforation and scabbing of a reinforced concrete wall due to hard missile impact.  Perforation […]

News & Views, Volume 43 | Attemperator Damage Prevention A Case Study Using Online Monitoring

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By:  Fred DeGrooth and Ulrich Woerz Attemperators (aka desuperheaters) are used in fossil and combined cycle plants to protect boiler/HRSG components and steam turbines from temperature transients that occur during startup or load changes. The attemperator sprays water droplets into the superheated steam to ensure that the downstream, mixed, steam temperature will not adversely affect […]

News & Views, Volume 43 | Wind Project Continued Operation Beyond Designed Life

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By:  Ceci Wilson With the increase of renewable energy into the power generation market, aggressive state renewable targets, and recently renewed production tax credit (PTC), wind power generation demand is positioned to increase significantly. This is good news not only for new wind projects but also for existing wind power infrastructure. As the wind energy […]

News & Views, Volume 43 | Managing Fatigue-Challenged Components in SLR

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By:  Jennifer Correa Subsequent License Renewal (SLR) will require a shift in the approach for managing plant components for thermal fatigue.  The components are older and will have experienced more fatigue damage.  As time goes on, more components will become fatigue-challenged, meaning that they will require more management to demonstrate serviceability. There are several approaches […]

News & Views, Volume 43 | Advanced Structural Analysis

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By:  Eric Kjolsing & Philip Voegtle The sophistication of structural analysis has evolved side-by-side with computing and graphics technology.  Structural engineers have at their fingertips very powerful software analysis tools that assist them in evaluating very large and complex structures for stability, suitability, and code adequacy.  The tools themselves vary in complexity in proportion with […]

News & Views, Volume 43 | A Strategic Approach for Completing Engineering Critical Assessments of Oil and Gas Transmission Pipelines

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By:  Scott Riccardella and Steven Biles Regulatory Overview In January 2012, the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 was signed into law directing PHMSA to take steps to further assure the safety of pipeline infrastructure.  PHMSA issued the related Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Safety of Gas Transmission and Gathering […]

News & Views, Volume 43 | LATITUDE™ Innovating the NDE Data Acquisition Process

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By:  Jason Van Velsor From the creation of the first simple stone tools to the invention of the world wide web, technological innovation has been the undercurrent that has carried the human species from our primitive survivalist ways to our present-day complexity of modern conveniences. We innovate from necessity, competition, or from a desire for […]

News & Views, Volume 43 | Using Falcon to Develop RIA Pellet-Cladding Mechanical Interaction (PCMI) Failure Criteria

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By:  John Alvis Introduction The goal to achieve higher fuel rod burnup levels has produced considerable interest in the transient response of high burnup nuclear fuel.  Several experimental programs have been initiated to generate data on the behavior of high burnup fuel under transient conditions representative of Reactivity Initiated Accidents (RIAs).  A RIA is an […]

News & Views, Volume 43 | TRU Compliance: The Standard for Seismic, Wind, and Blast Certification

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By:  Andy Coughlin About TRU COMPLIANCE As the product certification arm of Structural Integrity, TRU Compliance stands for safety and code compliance when failure is not an option. Our clients manufacture cutting edge products that push the limits of operational performance and efficiency in many industries. We help them achieve continued performance during earthquakes, high […]