Pipeline Mechanical Calculations

This chapter begins making a description of the human knowledge in the search for efficient means of transporting fluids and rescues historical facts from the early oil industry, underlying the concept of underground construction of pipelines for liquids and gases. It contains an overview of the mechanical design and presents the calculation procedures consolidated by the international normative experience. A review of the first attempts for obtaining a rational equation for calculating the wall thickness is presented together with some important equations currently used. Topics such as design criteria, piping components, pipeline stabilization in floodplains, anchor design, and many others are covered. A section is dedicated to the behavior of a pipeline subject to loads of temperature and pressure and to the analysis of the pipe-soil interaction. A general approach is taken on hydrostatic testing and crossings design. Finally, the last section highlights the importance of the as-built revision of the thermo-hydraulic design and the construction records, aiming to future pipeline structural integrity assessments.