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Fatigue Life Prediction of Umbilica
Fatigue Life Prediction of Umbilica
154-163
10.1515/pomr-2017-0078
Lu Qingzhen1, Lecturer
Yin Yuanchao2, Ph. D.
Yang Zhixun2, Ph. D.
Chen Jinlong2, Ph. D.
Yan Jun2, Prof.
Yue Qianjin1,2, Prof.
1
School of Ocean Science and Technology, Dalian University of Tech Dalian, Liaoning, China
2
Department of Engineering Mechanics, Dalian University of Tech Dalian, Liaoning, China
ABSTRACT
The fatigue problem induced by wave loads and floater movements of dynamic umbilicals in deepwater is studied. The
prediction method of the fatigue life is investigated by considering no-linear local stress due to contact and friction
between components of the umbilical. A case study of a dynamic umbilical for 1500 meters depth in South China
Sea was presented. The results showed that the more accurate result of the fatigue life was calculated by considering
non-linear local stress. The fatigue life by considering local stress with the no-slip assumption was conservative. An
obviously longer fatigue life was obtained by considering local stress with the full-slip assumption.
Keywords: steel tube umbilical; fatigue life; contact and friction; non-linear local stress
INTRODUCTION the alternative load which can lead the fatigue failure of the
umbilical.
The Method of the fatigue life analysis based on Miner
Steel tube umbilical is one of the key equipment in subsea accumulated damage theory is usually recommended by
production system, which supplies a communication and many specifications for marine engineering. However, there
control link between the subsea system and surface vessels. A are still lots of uncertain factors during the analysis of the
typical umbilical consists of various functional components fatigue life because of the complexity of umbilical structures.
for electrical power, signal transmission and hydraulic such Hoffman et al.[1] and Jose et al.[2] presented a procedure
as electric cables, optical fiber cables and steel tubes. The of the fatigue life analysis of flexible rises and umbilicals
functional components are surrounded by amour wires and based on Miner accumulated damage method. Song et al. [3]
polymeric sheaths. All the components are unbonded together studied the dynamic response and the fatigue life analysis of
and can slide freely. The umblical near the vessel is usually flexible rises. The calculation method of dynamic analysis of
subjected to large tension load and alternative bending load global load had been a relatively perfect method during the
due to self-weight, currents, waves and motions of the vessel. fatigue life analysis of umbilicals. However, compared with
The accumulated damage of the component is induced by
2. Bending Stress
The inside conditions of umbilicals can be divided into a
no-slip stage and a full-slip state during bending. The period
Fig. 1 Fatigue analysis flow of dynamic umbilical of the no-slip stage can be increased as the increase of the
tension load. The bending stress can be expressed by different
stages.
The fatigue life analysis of dynamic umbilical is more
difficult than steel rises. The material of steel tubes is more Bending Stress of No-slip Stage
homogeneous compared with the material of umbilicals. The The steel tube is bent with the center axis of the umbilical
stress analysis is relatively simple because of the ring structure before the component slides. The bending stress is equal to
of the cross-section. The stress state of umbilica is complex the static friction stress, which can be expressed as:
and the calculation of the local stress is more difficult.
Non-linear local stress due to contact and friction between (8)
components of the steel tube umbilical is important for the
fatigue analysis of umbilical. A more accurate fatigue life Where is the time-domain of the bending stress
could be got based on the non-linear local stress before slipping, N (t ) is the time-domain of the curve, R L
is the distance between the center of the steel tube and the
umbilical.
ANALYSIS METHOD OF LOCAL STRESS
Bending Stress of Full-Slip Stage
The structure of a typical steel tube umbilical is shown in The bending stress caused by bending is determined
Fig.2. The functional components and armor wires are helical by the diameter of each steel tube after the sliding of the
wound by a special angle. The helical angle of the functional component. The bending stress can be calculated by the
components is usually less than 10 degree. The armor wires formula below:
are wound at an angle above 20 degree. The steel tube is the
most critical components during the fatigue failure. The stress (9)
of the steel tube can be calculated by tension stress, bending
stress and friction stress. is the time-domain of the bending stress after
slipping, R is the diameter of the steel tube.
(10)
Where N is the axial force, f is the friction load per unit (16)
length.
fds
S
N N dN The full-slip state is assumed to be started when M ,
the max critical curvature can be expressed as: 2
ds
Periods (s)
Probability (%)
<=3 3~4 4~5 5~6 6~7 7~8 8~9 9~10 >10
0~0.5 0.29 1.13 5.35 8.20 1.47 0.12 0.01 0.00 0.00
0.5~1.0 0.05 0.67 7.05 6.61 4.62 1.64 0.30 0.03 0.00
1.0~1.5 0.00 0.02 1.46 8.34 5.05 2.06 0.97 0.37 0.03
1.5~2.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.24 7.91 2.21 1.09 0.69 0.16
2.0~2.5 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 3.72 4.68 0.86 0.56 0.33
Wave 2.5~3.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.13 4.29 1.67 0.34 0.34
height
3.0~3.5 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.91 3.17 0.38 0.20
(m)
3.5~4.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 1.81 1.00 0.23
4.0~4.5 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.33 1.38 0.30
4.5~5.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.81 0.46
5.0~6.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.17 0.84
>6.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.86
Wave
Probability
height
13 12.4 14.4
11 1.9 77.1 80.6 2.4
9 33.5 422.9 378.9 23.8
7 522.1 2095.9 1450.6 159.6 7.36
5 137.2 7660.4 10058.3 5165.8 820.1 80.28 27.1 4.2
3 183.9 24073.8 85651 42299.1 18816.5 4176 675.8 348.7 86.5
1 383617 531684 354077 106386 53435.6 18850 4931.0 3681.4 1326
Period 3 5 7 10 12 18 25 30 50
'V 2u E u R uN (22)
Fig.10 Contact stress values of the nodes along the tube The alternating stress in Fig. 12 can be equivalent to
pure bending curvature. The fatigue amplitude should be
accelerated for determine the loading of fatigue test. The
The critical curvature where the components begin to slide curvature of 0.03, 0.04, 0.05 and 0.06 were chosen to conduct
can be calculated by Eq. (17). The value of the sliding friction the fatigue test. The probability of occurrence times of each
stress of each unit length can be obtained by Eqs. (18), (19). curvature is 36%, 24%, 16% and 15%. The curvature and
The total stress as the change of curvature can be got by Eqs. damage times of alternating stress based on S-N curve is
(20), (21). In addition, the other two assumptions of the stress shown in Tab. 5.
condition are also considered. In the no-slip assumption,
the stress is equal to the static frictional stress which can be Tab.5 Curvature and damage times of alternating stress
calculated by Eq. (20). In the full- slip assumption, the stress
is obtained based on Eq. (21). The results of the total stress
curvature damage times of
under three conditions are shown in Fig. 11. type
(rad/m) alternating stress
1 0.03 12501524.45
2 0.04 4567487.80
3 0.05 2091666.06
4 0.06 1104989.08
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY