Micro and macro mechanical analysis of gas pipeline steels

The actual safety margins of gas pipelines depend on a number of factors that include the mechanical characteristics of the material. The evolution with time of the metal properties can be evaluated by mechanical tests performed at different scales, seeking for the best compromise between the simplicity of the experimental setup to be potentially employed in situ and the reliability of the results. Possible alternatives are comparatively assessed on pipeline steels of different compositions and in different states.