Creep Analysis for an Unbonded Flexible Pipe Barrier

The fluid barrier in an unbonded flexible pipe seals the pressure from the internal fluid. Since the barrier is usually made of polymer materials, it is unable to hold the pressure by itself. A metal reinforced hoop layer is usually needed outside the barrier layer in order to resist the pressure. The hoop layer is usually a steel bar with a cross-section of an irregular shape. It is helically wrapped at the outside of the barrier layer. When the pipe is pressurized, the barrier will be supported by the hoop reinforcement layer from outside. However, at the gap between the steel wraps where the barrier layer bridges, material of the barrier will be forced to extrude into the gap. The amount of the extrusion is a function of many parameters such as temperature, material property, and internal pressure and so on. In addition, it is time dependent. The creep effect needs be considered. It is critical to have a proper barrier design for a flexible pipe structure. This article presents a practical finite element method for evaluation of the barrier/gap design. The creep behavior of the polymers is multi-parameter related. Therefore, a series of material tests has been conducted under various stresses and temperatures for nylon, polyethylene and Polyvinylidene Fluoride. In this work a method is given to determine the creep behavior parameters through parameter matching based on the tests. The creep deformation of barrier was analyzed with a finite element model using these parameters.