Comparison Between Theoretical and Experimental Flexible Pipe Bending Stresses

Abstract

This paper presents alternative finite element formulations for predicting the dynamic stresses of tensile armour in un-bonded flexible pipes. Shear interaction in terms of friction stick-slip between layers is treated in two alternative ways; either by considering the cross-section resultant in terms of the friction moment or by applying a sandwich beam formulation for each individual tendon. For both formulations, the boundary condition in terms of initial contact pressure from static loads are treated by a separate model. Experimental studies applying fibre-optic Braggs are presented to validate the performance of the formulations in terms of dynamic stresses.