Numerical and Experimental Study of Damaged Sandwich Pipe Under External Pressure

Abstract

Studies on sandwich pipes, which comprise two concentric high strength steel tubes and a suitable annular material have shown good results due to their improved strength under external pressure and therefore they have been indicated as a good alternative for application in brazilian pre-salt scenario as gas and oil exportation pipelines. After installation on seabed a sandwich pipe can undergo mechanical damage caused by possible impacts of an anchor or some dropped heavy objects. When this happens, its strength under external pressure can be significantly reduced. This paper presents a numerical and experimental study of the reduced strength under external pressure (initiation pressure) of a damaged sandwich pipe. To this end, small scale sandwich pipe models were manufactured using steel tubes and PVDF in the annular space. Mechanical damages were simulated on the external surface of the models to collapse them under external pressure. The test results were compared to a three dimensional FE model simulating both the initiation pressure and the propagation pressure of the tested samples. A parametric study was carried out to analyze the sandwich pipe performance under damaged conditions.