The industry requirements solved by fracture mechanics

The growth of energy demand generates an increase in the size of industrial structures. From 1910 to 2000, the diameter of the largest “transport” pipelines were multiplied by 4 and the transport pressure by a value of 60[1]. As a result, the various components relating to power plant, oil and gas facilities as well as petrochemical networks which are under mechanical pressure have an attractive deal for research scientists for several decades. However, the design for a pressure vessel component is considered to be a difficult challenge once the defects in the base material develops. This problem is frequently encountered in the field of pipeline networks and boiler components due to various structural imperfections. The modern approach intends to replace experimental evaluation with virtual simulation. While numerical calculations may enable researchers to gain a better understanding, there may be several limitations. There is a small convergence when dealing with industrial products due to the dissimilarity between design concepts, manufacturing performances and cost of the software products. A robust review that focused on the multi-scale approach of fracture mechanics was applied in order to overcome these issues and prove the potential of innovative solutions by corroborating the industrial standards with fundamental research.