Numerical Evaluation of Compressive Strain Capacity for API X100 Line Pipe

In the strain-based design, pipeline steels are required to satisfy not only the stress capacity but also the strain capacity. Thus, considerable efforts have been made to meet the various requirements of the pipe-material properties that might undergo large deformation during the installation stage in various hostile environments. An adequate compressive strain capacity can help effectively avoid local buckling. Hence, highly deformable steel becomes crucial in achieving the required strain capacity. This study proposes a nonlinear finite element procedure based on the commercial software ABAQUS combined with the User-defined Material Module (UMAT), which is created using Fortran language. The Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman (GTN) model is implemented in UMAT to fully consider the nonlinear behavior of an API X100 pipe subjected to compressive loading. The numerical simulation results of the full-scale bending test were compared with the experimental results to verify the nonlinear finite element procedure equipped with the GTN model. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results. The parametric studies reveal the effects of geometric imperfections and material properties on the compressive strain limit.