Stress analysis in pipelines submitted to internal pressure - and temperature transients

Experimental determination of the structural behaviour of a thermal-hydraulic loop, when submitted to simultaneous fast change of pressure and temperature, was performed. For this, electrical strain-gages were positioned at some critical points in order to measure the deformation conditions of the structure. The study of the kinetics of the deformation revealed the presence of important transient stresses, mainly from thermal origin. After this transient behaviour, the structure is submitted to a thermal stress, which is shown to be strongly dependent on the degree of restraint of the structure. (Author)