Non-metallic inspections and best practice guide
Status: Project
Date Announced: May, 2026
Reinforced thermosetting resin (RTR) pipes are increasingly used in the oil and gas industry for their strength, chemical resistance, and cost‑efficient manufacturing, yet ensuring their long‑term integrity remains challenging. While joints are widely recognized as the leading source of system failures, they are not the only aspects that pose inspection difficulties. The diversity of RTR materials, lay‑ups, and fabrication methods means that no single NDT technique can reliably address all inspection scenarios across the system. Compounding this, NDT technologies for non‑metallic composites have not advanced at the pace of those for metallic pipelines, resulting in inconsistent inspection outcomes, higher uncertainty in defect detection, and increased lifecycle costs for operators.
The solution to this challenge lies in applying a systematic engineering approach to the evaluation of RTR materials, joint configurations, and inspection methods under the specific environmental, and operational conditions encountered in offshore and onshore pipeline systems. Work packages will therefore be structured to characterise the integrity of RTR joints and pipe sections in terms of defect detectability, inspection capability, material response, and technique limitations across the full range of composite constructions and service environments. The corresponding work scope is designed to generate the technical evidence base required to establish reliable and industry‑aligned best‑practice guidance.
Find out more about this project by accessing the following link.