Wall fusion of buried pipelines can occur if the driving voltage and available current is sufficiently high. For example, it can occur from direct lightning strikes to earth, close to the pipelines’ routing. However, not all factors for defining the energy discharge needed to fuse the pipe wall are thoroughly investigated or understood. This paper enriches the ongoing research activities in an attempt to understand such detrimental damages. In particular, the paper formulates its research contents around a documented wall fusion incident on an underground gas transmission system, due to a nearby direct lightning strike. The investigation embraces field, laboratory, and modeling activities to provide insights on the damaging mechanism. Of particular importance in understanding this mechanism is the influence of soil ionization. To this end, a model is developed to investigate the soil-ionized flow of the lightning discharge current—into the pipeline's metal wall, through existing coating defects—thus revealing its detrimental effect.

中文翻译：

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直接雷击引起的埋地管道壁面融合：损伤机制的现场、实验室和模拟研究

如果驱动电压和可用电流足够高，则可能发生埋地管道的壁熔。例如，它可能发生在靠近管道路线的地面直接雷击中。然而，并非所有定义熔断管壁所需能量排放的因素都得到彻底调查或理解。本文丰富了正在进行的研究活动，试图了解这种有害的损害。特别是，该论文围绕一个记录在案的地下输气系统壁面融合事件，由于附近的直接雷击而制定其研究内容。调查包括现场、实验室和建模活动，以提供有关破坏机制的见解。理解这种机制特别重要的是土壤电离的影响。为此，