Full-scale impact tests on pipelines

There was a possibility that a new submarine pipeline under construction might accidentally fall on an existing pipeline in operation. Full-scale tests were carried out to study what would happen, and to reassure the operator that the existing line would not be ruptured. The tests dropped one length of a concrete-coated 508 mm (20-in) pipe onto another, and the largest kinetic energy of the falling pipe was 154 kJ. The tests measured the dents of the pipes, the damage to the concrete, and its reinforcement. Analysis sets out to account for the division of the impact energy between different absorption mechanisms.