Development of Fitness for Service and Life Prediction for Non-Metallics

In this section

Back to Core Research Programme AMorph – 4D Printing for Field Morphing Structures Automation of Composite and Hybrid Joining Process Coaxial Wire Additive Manufacturing Processes and In-Line Monitoring Tools Development of Coded Excitation Technique for Non-Metallic Pipes Inspection Development of Digital Twin technology as a demonstrator for real-time integrity assessment of crack growth in tensile specimens Development of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) for Hydrogen Fuel Storage Tanks Development of Leak-Before-Break Hydrogen Storage Composite Pressure Vessels With Polymeric Liner Establishing Assessment Methods for Determining Safe Service Limits of High-Temperature Materials in Extreme Environments Fracture toughness in aggressive environments: effect of crack monitoring techniques on test results In-process detection and non-destructive testing of electron beam weld imperfections Internal Bore Coatings for Applications in Corrosion and Hydrogen Environment Joining of Additively Manufactured Materials Long term behaviour of polymeric liner materials/coatings in hydrogen service Techniques for High Temperature Ultrasonic Inspection of Arc Welding Ultimate Leverage Fund

Project Code: 36658

Start date and planned duration: January 2026, 12 months

Objective

Development of framework for unified representation of ageing due to multiple exposure factors in thermosetting polymer composites
Integration of ageing and of effects of defects in constitutive modelling of composites
Quantification and representation of uncertainty in operational conditions and material behaviour
Integration of material behaviour, exposure and loading history to achieve a probabilistic fitness for service and life assessments of composite assets

Project Outline

The project will develop a fitness for service and lifetime assessment framework for thermosetting matrix composite assets. The framework will be capable of assessing fitness for service and predicting the probability of asset failure over different time horizons given an asset’s history. The work will address defects, damage types and ageing effects relevant to materials and environments associated with oil and gas applications.

The main challenges in the development are linked to the complexity of mapping the evolution of material behaviour with time during the life of an asset, the incorporation of the influence of defects and of ageing in the analysis of composites, the integration of uncertainty in operational conditions and material in the analysis of assets and the interplay and coupling between damage propagation and environmental exposure. The project will address these through a combination of experimental work at coupon level, analysis of historical datasets to capture uncertainty and materials modelling with a focus on coupling state variables of ageing and damage.

The final outcome of the work will be a set of tools allowing estimation of the instantaneous probability of failure and the probability distribution of life of a composite asset given its history, enabling run/repair/replace decisions to be made and inspection/maintenance planning to be optimised.

Industry Sectors

- Oil and Gas

Benefits to Industry

The current state of the art does not include standards or codes for assessment of composite assets beyond commissioning. This increases the level of uncertainty under which run/repair/replace decisions must be made, reducing their optimality and efficiency. The framework development in the project will progress the state of the art though:

Reduction of risk of composite assets failure
Improvement of the efficiency of maintenance/repair decisions
Enhanced understanding of material life effects in composites assets