Assessment Procedure for Multiple Volumetric Flaws in $p-M$ Diagram

Assessment of multiple volumetric flaws is one of the most common problems relating to pressure vessels and piping components. Under the current fitness for service rules, such as ASME, BS, and so on, multiple volumetric flaws are usually recharacterized as an enveloping volumetric flaw (defined as a single larger volumetric flaw) as well as multiple cracklike flaws, following their assessment rules. However, the rules proposed in their codes will not often agree and their justification is unknown. Furthermore, they can provide unrealistic assessment in some cases. In this paper, the interaction between two differently sized nonaligned volumetric flaws such as local thin areas is clarified by applying the body force method. Unlike multiple cracklike flaws, the effect of biaxial stresses on the interaction is evident. Based on the interaction that indicates the magnification and shielding effects and reference stress solutions, a new procedure for multiple volumetric flaws is proposed for assessing the flaws in the $p-M$ (pressure-moment) diagram, which is a simple assessment procedure for vessels with volumetric flaws.