Failure analysis of (± 55°)9 filament-wound GRE pipes using acoustic emission technique

•The hoop tensile strength of an industrial unique GRE pipe with specific is determined. (case study)•Two relatively new acoustical parameters, i.e. RA and AF along with traditional acoustical parameters are used to characterize the mode of failure of the studied GRE pipe.•By using the proper interpretation of the mentioned acoustical parameters, relevant failure mechanisms are acceptably characterized in the mentioned GRE pipe.•After the fracture of the specimen, the fracture surface is photographed by using SEM.•A relatively good agreement is observed between all of the mentioned acoustical parameters and the SEM images.•The obtained results from this study for the failure state in the hoop direction can be used in quality assurance tests.

In the present study, relevant tensile tests are conducted in ring specimens for determination of apparent hoop tensile strength of an industrial (± 55°)9 filament-wound GRE pipe. To characterize the different failure mechanisms of these specimens, acoustic emission (AE) technique is used. The acoustical parameters including the energy, the accumulated energy, the amplitude, and the ratio of rise time to peak amplitude (rise angle or RA), as well as the ratio of number of counts to duration (average frequency or AF) are analyzed during the tests. The ability of each acoustical parameter in describing the failure mechanisms is discussed and comprised with the available performed studies. A comparison between mechanical response and analyzed AE signals is made to correlate each stage of loading to its associated failure mechanism. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is also used to verify the obtained results from the analysis of acoustical parameters.