Session: 04-01-05 Flexible Pipes V

Submission Number: 181114

A Crushing Analysis Framework for Umbilical Cables 

Umbilical cables are used in the offshore industry to control underwater equipment, playing a crucial role in the exploitation of deepwater resources. They have different components, which vary depending on the application, including electrical cables, optical fibers, hoses, and tubes. Armor layers and plastic layers are also present to provide the necessary axial resistance and waterproofness.

In general, these cables are installed by reeling ships, where the line is slowly laid out in the sea. To ensure the positioning and smoothness of the laying process, the pipe is tensioned and pressed by a shoe system. The number of shoes varies depending on the ship's capacity. This creates a radial compression in the pipe, which can cause an excessive ovalization of the hoses, leading to their crushing.

Understanding the problem and how the hoses behave during the laying process is paramount to ensure that the umbilical cable performs its designed functions properly. Thus, this article proposes a crushing analysis framework using the finite element method.

The framework involves importing geometry from CAD design software and converting it to an ANSYS APDL macro, which can then be simulated. It is necessary to provide additional information, such as the geometry of the shoes and their number. The process of this conversion and the required treatment to ensure that the umbilical is described in detail throughout the paper, as well as the adopted hypothesis, are discussed. Some examples of the conversion are shown, and discussions about the modeling process are presented, concluding with an examination of the limitations and future work.

Presenting Author: Clovis De Arruda Martins University of São Paulo

Presenting Author Biography: Professor Clovis is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical Department in University of São Paulo.

Authors:

Rodrigo Provasi University of São Paulo
Guilherme Jorge Vernizzi Lopes University of São Paulo
Clovis De Arruda Martins University of São Paulo
Marlon Lemos De Souza Prysmian Cabos e Sistemas do Brasil
Rafael Giovane Morini Prysmian Cabos e Sistemas do Brasil