International.
The University of Oviedo in Spain has led an international research that resulted in an innovative model capable of predicting environmentally assisted cracking in metal components.
According to experts, the model developed is an important step forward in identifying the precise moment of the onset of structural failure depending on the forces applied, the material used and external conditions.
The study could have important implications in the design of a wide variety of structural components of the energy sector such as gas pipelines, oil pipelines, pressure vessels or off-shore structures, where hydrogen embrittlement and corrosion continue to cause catastrophic failures and limit the use of high-strength steels, according to the authors.
In the same way, they indicate that the work, which has been published in 'Acta Materialia', aims to develop a new generation of predictive models based on mechanisms that could be used in the near future in the energy sector to establish new criteria for design and monitoring of damage.
The study, led by University of Oviedo researcher Emilio Martínez Pañeda, involved researchers from the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Virginia (USA).
Source: www.lavanguardia.com
