How to Avoid Vibration-Induced Fatigue Failures in Process Piping – New Methods and Tools
(Room Conference Hall)
04 Apr 18
9:30 AM
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11:30 AM
Vibration-induced fatigue accounts for more than 20% of process piping failures. These failures can often be prevented through proper design, however, current industry practices frequently miss important design aspects. During operation, integrity departments commonly rely on facility operators to identify and report vibration problems, in addition to line walk-downs by inspectors. API 571 and 574 provide guidance on visual inspections, but many vibration issues cannot be identified with visual inspection alone. NDT cannot discover fatigue damage prior to crack initiation, and vibration crack propagation to failure happens within hours or minutes. As a result, issues are often managed through ad-hoc, reactive approaches. To address this, a proactive, risk-based approach has been developed to reduce vibration risks before damage occurs. This is achieved through screening and risk-ranking of critical locations, based on process and design considerations.