Developments in ECA methods for pipelines

It is now standard practice to perform an Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) of fatigue and fracture critical pipelines to verify the pipeline design and assure pipeline integrity. Over the last 20 years a number of ECA methods have been developed for pipelines. These methods cover fracture control (dynamic fracture) of pipelines as well as fatigue and fracture of pipeline girth welds. This paper reviews the current status of pipeline ECA methods including current R&D programs to refine and extend ECA methods. In addition the paper will include ECA results from several recent pipeline projects highlighting the differences in ECA predictions obtained using different methods and codes. (AU)