The Effect of Spiral Cold-Bending Manufacturing Process on Pipeline Mechanical Behavior

Large-diameter spiral-welded pipes are employed in demanding hydrocarbon pipeline applications, which require an efficient strain-based design framework. In the course of a large European project, numerical simulations on spiral-welded pipes are conducted to examine their bending deformation capacity in the presence of internal pressure referring to geohazard actions, as well as their capacity under external pressure for offshore applications in moderate deep water. Numerical models that simulate the manufacturing process (decoiling and spiral cold bending) are employed. Subsequently, the residual stresses due to cold bending are used to examine the capacity of pipe under external pressure and internally-pressurized bending. A parametric analysis is conducted to examine the effect of spiral cold forming process on the structural behavior of spiral welded pipes and the effect of internal pressure on bending capacity. The results from the present study support the argument that spiral-welded pipes can be used in demanding onshore and offshore pipeline applications.