Effects of graphene nanoplatelets-reinforced putty on the burst performances of repaired steel pipes.

Abstract

The demand to reduce fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite wrap to repair damaged pipes is increasing. However, there is currently no proper execution and evaluation of improving the properties of the infill material, i.e., putty for pipeline repair. Finite-element analysis (FEA) is used to investigate the performance and behavior of composite repair components individually, i.e., pipe, putty incorporating graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), and composite wrap. A finite-element (FE) model was developed and verified with previous studies with a margin of less than 15% error, followed by finite-element (FE) simulation using different putty properties. The burst capacity of the repaired pipe increased by 1.5%, indicating a nonsignificant contribution of GNPs toward load-bearing capacity. Nevertheless, putty with GNPs minimized a pipe's sudden rupture and improved the putty's load-transfer and load-sharing mechanisms by serving as secondary layer protection in the event of composite wrap failure.