Use of BFRP Wrap for Rehabilitation of Pipeline in Bending with Various Corrosion Depths

Abstract

The feasibility and effectiveness of basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) wrap in the rehabilitation of corroded pipes under bending and internal pressure was investigated by using experimental tests and numerical analyses. The experimental program consisted of eight pipe specimens with diameter-to-thickness ratio (D/t) of 34.5 tested under four-point bending and internal pressure. Corrosion defects were simulated on specimens by reducing the wall thickness. The corroded specimens were repaired by using BFRP-composite wrap. The numerical modeling, conducted by using a commercially available program, studied the effect of the fiber orientation of BFRP wrap and the number of layers of BFRP wrap. The results indicated that increasing the amount of BFRP layers can successfully increase the bending capacity of the pipe, and there is an optimum thickness of BFRP fabric. When the findings of this study were compared to the current guidelines, it was found that this standard does not take the ovalization effect of in-plane bending into consideration.