August 15, 2023: Pipeline Flaws and Degradation

  • Author: Bill Amend
  • Level: Advanced
  • Study time: 4 hours
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Course overview
This course is intended for those who need familiarization with the range of typical manufacturing flaws, fabrication flaws, and forms of in-service degradation found in pipelines.  Knowing the specific types of vulnerabilities can guide determination of where to inspect and what data to collect.  The presentation will be supplemented with other publicly available reference materials and a list of other related resource materials available from the respective publishers.
Class Start: 9:00 am (CDT)
Class End: 1:00 pm (CDT)

PDH Certificate included upon successful completion

  • Course Outline

    Introduction to Pipeline Flaws
    What is “acceptable?” What is a defect?
    Pipeline Manufacturing Flaws
    Pipeline Welding Features and Flaws
    In-service Degradation
    • Fatigue cracking
    • Stress corrosion cracking (SCC)
    • Mechanical damage
    • Corrosion

Bill Amend

Professional Engineer, Metallurgical Engineering SME, RSI Pipeline Solutions
ABOUT Bill
Bill Amend has provided metallurgical engineering services to the energy industry (oil & gas production and pipelines and geothermal energy production) since 1979. He previously worked with DNV (12 years), Structural Integrity Associates (5 years), Southern California Gas Company (14 years), and Unocal Corporation (12 years).

Bill’s areas of expertise include failure analysis, integrity management of early vintage steel pipelines and pipeline welds, in-situ, nondestructive determination of pipe properties, development and review of welding procedures for in-service pipelines and pipeline repair, materials selection for hydrogen pipelines, materials testing and selection for severe geothermal environments, and technical training.

Mr. Amend has served in various leadership roles in subcommittees of API 1104 and has managed and conducted several research projects for PRCI, earning the Distinguished Service Award from PRCI in 2002. He is co-holder of three U.S. patents related to control of corrosion in geothermal systems. Mr. Amend is a Professional Engineer registered in the State of California. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.