The main objective of this work is to present the values of the circumferential normal deformations obtained from numerical simulations of metallic pipes (AISI Steel 1020, length L = 400 mm, external diameter D = 400 mm and thickness t = 2 mm) in the following conditions: (i) perfect; (ii) machined on 25% of its length along its central region to a thinckness reduction of 50%, in order to simulate a defect; and (iii) repaired with a carbon/epoxy composite (balanced woven fabrics of fibers, AS4 - Hexcel), subjected to different internal pressures, from 2 to 10 MPa, using the non linear finite element program COMPSHELL. And, in addition, to verify if the applied composite repairing are able to restore the original stiffness of the pipes, previous to the machining operation. It was observed that there is a minimum thickness, which is required for the carbon/epoxy repairing to restore the local stiffness lost on the machining operation. The radial displacements and the circumferential strain were used as references to evaluate how effective the repair was. The minimum thickness of the repairing depends on the ratio of the elasticity moduli of the repaired and the original material of the tube. As far as this work is concerned, the required repair thickness is 3.05 mm.
composite repairings; metallic pipes
