层间摩擦系数对非黏结柔性管抗拉铠装层轴压屈曲失效模式的影响研究

在柔性管运输、铺设安装和服役过程中,由于其抗拉铠装层钢带为柔性细长螺旋结构,当外部载荷超过临界值时,抗拉铠装层钢带容易发生屈曲失效。考虑非线性材料、几何大变形、层间接触和摩擦等非线性效应的影响,运用ABAQUS有限元软件建立了63.5 mm典型非黏结柔性管8层完整结构模型,研究了在抗拉铠装层不同层间摩擦系数的情况下,非黏结柔性管在轴向压缩载荷作用下的力学性能和屈曲失效模式。研究结果表明,层间摩擦系数对非黏结柔性管的抗压刚度和抗拉铠装层屈曲失效模式有较大影响,层间摩擦系数以0.1和0.2为分界点,抗压刚度和屈曲失效模式均呈现出“三段式”变化规律。研究成果可为海洋非黏结柔性管的结构设计和屈曲失效评估提供技术参考。     

Non-symmetric cyclic bending of helical wires in flexible pipes

Unbonded flexible pipes have superior fatigue performance as the internal armor layers are allowed to move relative to each other, leading to reduced structural loading. The main interactions between the internal layers are the contact forces and the frictional forces. Frictional interaction leads to a complex non-linear response of unbonded flexible pipes making prediction of cyclic bending fatigue a demanding task. Nevertheless, detailed understanding of local armor wire stresses and the related fatigue phenomena is of paramount importance as unbonded flexible risers are often operated close to their mechanical limits. This paper presents a method for calculating the tensile armor wire loading and the hysteresis effect on flexible pipes when subjected to tension, and non-symmetric cyclic bending. The effect of non-symmetric cyclic bending with different tensile armor lay angles, and frictional conditions are studied. The analysis uses an efficient repeated unit cell finite element model, allowing the analysis to be performed on a desktop computer. The study shows that the tensile armor wires gradually translate towards the compression side of the pipe bending plane, when the unbonded flexible pipe is subjected to combined tension and non-symmetric cyclic bending. In the analysis, cyclic bending is applied until steady-state in the bending response is achieved over a full bending cycle. The global bending response of the flexible pipe and the tensile armor wire loading conditions for fully stabilized non-symmetric cyclic bending become symmetric around the frictionless state for the mean cyclic bending curvature. An approximate analytic model for the tensile armor in the stabilized cycle, based on symmetric bending about the geodesic curve corresponding to the mean pipe curvature, is proposed.     

Behavior of unbonded flexible risers subject to axial tension

Owing to nonlinear contact problems with slip and friction, a lot of limiting assumptions are made when developing analytical models to simulate the behavior of an unbonded flexible riser. Meanwhile, in order to avoid convergence problems and excessive calculating time associated with running the detailed finite element （FE） model of an unbonded flexible riser, interlocked carcass and zeta layers with complicated cross section shapes are replaced by simple geometrical shapes （e.g. hollow cylindrical shell） with equivalent orthotropic materials. But the simplified model does not imply the stresses equivalence of these two layers. To solve these problems, based on ABAQUS/Explicit, a numerical method that is suitable for the detailed FE model is proposed. In consideration of interaction among all component layers, the axial stiffness of an eight-layer unbonded flexible riser subjected to axial tension is predicted. Compared with analytical and experimental results, it is shown that the proposed numerical method not only has high accuracy but also can substantially reduce the calculating time. In addition, the impact of the lay angle of helical tendons on axial stiffness is discussed.     

考虑轴向荷载和外压影响的非黏结柔性管道骨架层失效分析

非黏结柔性管道骨架层由不锈钢材料互锁缠绕而成,主要用于抵抗外压防止软管发生压溃失效.骨架层失效是柔性软管故障的最大风险,骨架层失效模式主要分为压溃失效和拉伸失效.采用非线性有限元方法并且考虑几何大变形、材料非线性、接触和摩擦等非线性效应的影响,对"S"型骨架层结构建立三维有限元模型,进行了单外压作用下的压溃失效分析和单一轴向拉力作用下的拉伸失效分析,而后开展轴向拉力和外压载荷组合作用下骨架层压溃失效分析.结果表明轴向拉力会一定程度上降低骨架层压溃承载力,相关结论可以为柔性软管结构设计和完整性评价提供参考.     

Mechanical responses of metallic strip flexible pipes subjected to pure torsion

Metallic strip flexible pipes (MSFP), a relatively new style of unbonded flexible pipes, are considered as an attractive alternative to traditional submarine pipes. Pipelines will inevitably confront torsion load which may affect the integrity and safety during their installation and application. Throughout this paper, the mechanical behavior of MSFP subjected to pure torsion is investigated by both experimental and numerical methods. Results from these two methods are essentially in agreement with each other. The finite element method (FEM) can be adopted to predict the failure torque of MSFP under torsion and analyze the detailed stress conditions of each layer. In addition, the effects of boundary conditions, layout manners of steel strips, friction coefficients between contact surfaces, twist directions and tension loads are discussed. The obtained conclusions will benefit cross-section design of MSFP and relative practical engineering.     

Analytical and Numerical Models to Predict the Behavior of Unbonded Flexible Risers Under Torsion

This paper presents analytical and numerical models to predict the behavior of unbonded flexible risers under torsion. The analytical model takes local bending and torsion of tensile armor wires into consideration, and equilibrium equations of forces and displacements of layers are deduced. The numerical model includes lay angle, cross-sectional profiles of carcass, pressure armor layer and contact between layers. Abaqus/Explicit quasi-static simulation and mass scaling are adopted to avoid convergence problem and excessive computation time caused by geometric and contact nonlinearities. Results show that local bending and torsion of helical strips may have great influence on torsional stiffness, but stress related to bending and torsion is negligible; the presentation of anti-friction tapes may have great influence both on torsional stiffness and stress; hysteresis of torsion-twist relationship under cyclic loading is obtained by numerical model, which cannot be predicted by analytical model because of the ignorance of friction between layers.     

Enhanced multi-layer fatigue-analysis approach for unbonded flexible risers

This paper proposes an enhanced approach for evaluating the fatigue life of each metallic layer of unbonded flexible risers. Owing to the complex structure of unbonded flexible risers and the nonlinearity of the system, particularly in the critical touchdown zone, the traditional method is insufficient for accurately evaluating the fatigue life of these risers. The main challenge lies in the transposition from global to local analyses, which is a key stage for the fatigue analysis of flexible pipes owing to their complex structure. The new enhanced approach derives a multi-layer stress-decomposition method to meet this challenge. In this study, a numerical model validated experimentally is used to demonstrate the accuracy of the stress-decomposition method. And a numerical case is studied to validate the proposed approach. The results demonstrate that the multi-layer stress-decomposition method is accurate, and the fatigue lives of the metallic layers predicted by the enhanced multi-layer analysis approach are rational. The proposed fatigue-analysis approach provides a practical and reasonable method for predicting fatigue life in the design of unbonded flexible risers.     

Enhanced Multi-Layer Fatigue-Analysis Approach for Unbonded Flexible Risers

This paper proposes an enhanced approach for evaluating the fatigue life of each metallic layer of unbonded flexible risers. Owing to the complex structure of unbonded flexible risers and the nonlinearity of the system, particularly in the critical touchdown zone, the traditional method is insufficient for accurately evaluating the fatigue life of these risers. The main challenge lies in the transposition from global to local analyses, which is a key stage for the fatigue analysis of flexible pipes owing to their complex structure. The new enhanced approach derives a multi-layer stress-decomposition method to meet this challenge. In this study, a numerical model validated experimentally is used to demonstrate the accuracy of the stress-decomposition method. And a numerical case is studied to validate the proposed approach. The results demonstrate that the multi-layer stress-decomposition method is accurate, and the fatigue lives of the metallic layers predicted by the enhanced multi-layer analysis approach are rational. The proposed fatigue-analysis approach provides a practical and reasonable method for predicting fatigue life in the design of unbonded flexible risers.     

On the external pressure capacity of deepwater sandwich pipes with inter-layer adhesion conditions

Sandwich pipes (SP), a composite structure consisting of two concentric steel tubes and a polymeric or cement-based core has been proposed to be well-insulated and withstand high installation and operational loads in deepwater oil and gas field. In the paper, the post-buckling responses and pressure capacity of sandwich pipes filled with the solid polypropylene annular were investigated. The degree of the inter-layer adhesion condition between the core layer and the surrounding pipes was modeled by the contact surfaces adopting different maximum shear strength values to allow the relative displacement between the layers. The effects such as inter-layer adhesion interactions, thickness-to-radius ratios, the core thickness, the material parameters, the relative initial ovality directions and the inelastic anisotropy on the collapse pressure of SPs were discussed. More than 2000 finite element (FE) models of the sandwich pipes with practical configurations were constructed and analyzed using the programming language Python within the FE software package ABAQUS. Based on the FE results, a simplified equation was developed and recommended for the collapse pressure calculation of sandwich pipes with the polypropylene annular.     

Axisymmetric viscoelastic response of flexible pipes in time domain

The challenges for determining the mechanical behavior of flexible pipes mainly arise from highly non-linear geometrical and material properties and complex contact interaction conditions between and within layers components. This paper develops an innovative model to investigate the linear viscoelastic behavior of flexible pipes under axisymmetric loads in time domain. The model is derived from an equivalent linear elastic axisymmetric model by invoking the elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle. Analytical formulations that describe the behavior of the metallic helical layers based on a combination of differential geometry concepts and Clebsch–Kirchhoff equilibrium equations for initially curved slender elastic rods are presented. The elastic response of the homogenous polymeric cylindrical layers is also presented. The assemblage of both types of governing algebraic equations that approximate analytical solutions for force and moment distributions, deformations in each layer, as well as contact pressure between near layers, taking time-dependent characteristics of polymeric layers into account are provided and it is clear that the relationship between axial force and elongation is non-linear and encompasses a hysteretic response. Besides, the creep behavior in axial direction can also be found. Some insights into the differences in the behavior for several loading conditions are discussed by considering variable frequencies.     

Effects of a cover layer on wave-induced pore pressure around a buried pipe in an anisotropic seabed

In engineering practice, a cover layer of coarser material has been used to protect a buried marine pipeline from wave-induced seabed instability. However, most previous investigations of the wave–seabed–pipe interaction problem have been concerned only with such a problem either in an isotropic single layer or a rigid pipe. This paper proposes a two-dimensional finite element model by employing the principle of repeatability to investigate the wave-induced soil response around a buried pipeline. The elastic anisotropic soil bahavior and geometry of cover layer are included in the present model, while the pipe is considered to be an elastic medium. This study focuses on the effects of a cover layer (including thickness B and width W of the cover layer) on the wave-induced pore pressure in the vicinity of a buried pipeline.     

非黏结柔性管道抗拉铠装层腐蚀机理与安全评价研究进展

非黏结柔性管道是海洋油气开发的重要装备,在海水环境中,抗拉铠装层发生腐蚀会对安全运行产生严重威胁,因此明确抗拉铠装层腐蚀机理、对柔性管道的检测和对抗拉铠装层的腐蚀评估十分重要。抗拉铠装层腐蚀与环空的气体环境和水环境有关,采用合适的检测方法和设备检测环空,可以帮助判断其腐蚀情况,并为腐蚀疲劳寿命评估和应对策略制定提供参考。针对抗拉铠装层腐蚀机理、非黏结柔性管道检测、腐蚀疲劳寿命评估和腐蚀应对措施进行了总结,指出机理研究和检测评估方法的不足,为国内柔性管道抗拉铠装层腐蚀研究和完整性管理提供参考。     

On the response of flexible risers to loads imposed by hydraulic collars

Even though hydraulic collars are largely used to install flexible risers, neither the loads imposed by this equipment nor the response of the risers to these loads have been previously studied. Hence, this paper presents a three-dimensional nonlinear finite element (FE) model to predict the response of flexible risers to loads imposed by hydraulic collars and also provides a set of equations to predict these loads. The FE model relies on an analogy between helical tendons and orthotropic shells to simulate the inner carcass and the pressure armour of flexible risers. Shell elements are used to represent the polymeric layers and three-dimensional beam elements simulate the wires of the tensile armours. Material, geometric and contact nonlinearities are addressed. Contact interactions between the layers of the riser are handled by surface to surface contact elements with a contact detection algorithm based on the pinball technique and contact forces evaluated with the augmented Lagrangian method. A 9.5″ flexible riser is analyzed and the numerical results are compared to those from the experimental tests. The agreement between all results indicates that the proposed FE model is an efficient approach to predict the response of flexible risers to loads imposed by hydraulic collars and, moreover, may be used to analyze the response of such structures to other types of loads.     

玻纤增强柔性管等效简化模型研究

玻纤增强柔性管作为一种新型海底油气输送管道,具有比强度高、柔度大和抗腐蚀性强等特点,因此在深海油气开发中具有非常广阔的应用前景。玻纤增强柔性管主要由内衬层、增强层和外保护层组成,其中增强层的等效模拟是玻纤增强柔性管设计成功与否的关键。根据玻纤增强柔性管的结构特征和材料特性,选取了四种不同的等效简化模型,对比研究了玻纤增强柔性管在轴向拉压荷载、弯曲荷载以及内压荷载作用下的力学性能。将不同简化模型的计算结果与相应的试验数据进行对比,进行等效模型的优选。研究结果表明,在内压载荷和弯曲载荷作用下,基于Halpin-Tsai模型数值结果与试验结果最为接近。在轴向载荷作用下,采用分离式模型或回形模型计算精度更高,若材料达到屈服状态时,则建议采用分离式模型进行模拟。     

Physical and finite element modeling of lateral stability of offshore skirted gravity structures subjected to iceberg impact load

Static stability mainly against sliding of a typical, relatively large skirted gravity structure was investigated using three-dimensional finite element modeling. The numerical model was validated against centrifuge test results. A specific set of dimensions was chosen to model a typical skirted gravity structure in a centrifuge with two types of foundation soils: uniform saturated sand and a clay zone sandwiched between two sand layers. Soil shear strength parameters used in the finite element models were estimated from in-flight cone penetration resistance measurements obtained in the centrifuge. Numerical parametric studies were conducted using the validated finite element model. The parameters included were the depth and strength of the clay zone and the inclination of external load. It is shown that a relatively simple three-dimensional finite element model was effective in providing information that would be needed to design such a critical and expensive offshore structure. Basic Mohr-Coulomb strength parameters and moduli based on cone penetration resistance measurements and published empirical correlations were appropriate in modeling the soils in the finite element simulations.     

Validity and limitation of analytical models for the bending stress of a helical wire in unbonded flexible pipes

Unbonded flexible pipe is one of the important pieces of equipment in floating production systems for transport of oil and gas between floaters and subsea wells located in deep water. To assure safety over a long-term service period, analysis of fatigue behavior under alternative bending is a key requirement. An analytical model for prediction of bending behavior is essential for understanding the mechanism of the local stress distribution in the helical wires of the tension armor layers under alternative curvatures and rapid estimation of the service life of flexible pipes for designers in engineering practice. In this paper, seven analytical models available in the literature are selected and summarized. Although the experimental results reported in the literature are limited, a three-dimensional finite element model is developed for investigation of the seven models, and the validity and limitations of these models for different structural parameters of helical wire are discussed, i.e., the width-thickness ratio of the wire section and helical angle. The analytical model based on spring theory resulted in a satisfactory estimation of bending stress for most cases and is recommended as a tool for the basic design of the helical armor wire structures in flexible pipes.     

海洋纤维增强柔性管压溃失效特性研究及参数敏感性分析

以一种黏结型的纤维增强柔性管作为研究对象,基于ABAQUS建立纤维增强柔性管的实体单元模型。根据二维 Hashin失效判据判断柔性管失效情况,充分考虑管道内外护套层塑性及纤维增强层复合材料渐进失效,建立纤维增强柔性管的压溃数值模型。将特征值法与弧长法相结合,计算得到了较为精准的纤维增强柔性管临界压溃压力及对应的外压—椭圆度曲线;并对影响柔性管临界压溃压力的几个敏感性参数如椭圆度、纤维缠绕角度、直线度进行分析。研究结果表明椭圆度和直线度偏差的增大及纤维缠绕角度的降低均会使柔性管的临界压溃压力下降,该结果对纤维增强柔性管的设计与使用均具有一定的参考意义。     

柔性管道骨架层压溃失效机理和安全评价方法研究进展

非黏结柔性管道作为深水油气开发领域的关键设备,是连接海底井口和海洋平台的主要纽带。海洋油气开发水深已经超过了3 000 m,高静水压力是深水软管设计和安全评价的主要挑战,明确深水柔性管道压溃失效机理,并准确地预测柔性管道的压溃压力可以为柔性管道结构设计和安全评价提供依据,柔性管道的压溃压力与骨架层的几何形状以及骨架层之间复杂的相互作用有关,准确高效地预测压溃压力变得极具挑战性。针对柔性管道失效机理研究和压溃压力预测方法进行了总结,指出当前柔性管道压溃失效分析中薄弱的环节,为我国非黏结柔性管道的结构设计和安全评价提供参考。     

Finite element modeling of net panels using a consistent net element

A consistent finite element is proposed to model the hydrodynamic response of net panels to environmental loading. This equivalent net element is constructed to reproduce the drag, buoyancy, inertial and elastic forces exerted on the netting by current and waves. To evaluate the accuracy of the proposed finite element modeling, numerical predictions have been compared with the experimental observations and (simplified) analytical results of other authors. This new modeling technique has been applied to evaluate the performance of a tension leg fish cage in the open ocean environment.