Experimental and FEM stress analysis of a pipe-rubber-seal-gasket structure

加拿大有丰富的石油和天然气储量。它的供应已经增长，预计还会继续增长。加拿大石油和天然气行业需要管道，管道被认为是最安全、最有效的石油和天然气运输方式。所有管道都有设计寿命，并且随着使用时间的推移会退化。这种降解会导致失效，从而扰乱石油和天然气的运输，对环境造成灾难性影响。监测、识别和响应紧急维修是必不可少的。

Canada has vast oil and gas reserves. Its supply has grown and is expected to keep growing. The Canadian oil & gas sector needs pipelines, which are considered the safest and the most efficient ways for the transportation of oil and gas. All pipelines have a design life and degradation over time in service. Such degradation can cause failure, which disrupts the oil and gas transportation and is catastrophic to the environment. Monitoring, identifying and responding to an emergency repair are essential. The pipeline isolation system is crucial equipment used during repairs. Rubber gaskets are one of the most important components for such an isolation system. During the pipeline isolation and the subsequent hydrastatic testing following the repair, the gaskets can produce high stresses. Such stresses may cause damage to the pipeline. This project aims to explore the interactions between the gaskets and the pipe and to develop a computer-aided tool to estimate the stresses induced by the gasket in the pipe. Both approaches of computational solid mechanics and experimental mechanics will be used in the proposed project. The project will be carried out with significant industrial support and as an extension of the previous successful collaboration with ProForma Engineering Ltd. (ProForma), an engineering consulting company in Winnipeg, which has been involved in designing the above mentioned specific tools. Although overall Canada's pipeline safety record is strong, safety of pipelines has been the center issue for any pipeline development. The project will contribute to enhancement of pipeline safety by developing a useful tool for pipeline material integrity monitoring and repairing.