The present paper is related to the verification of unbonded flexible pipes designed and manufactured as per API 17J [1].
Back in the early nineties, in response to the needs of the industry for better quality, reliability and safety in unbonded flexible pipe products, Bureau Veritas established an innovative verification scheme relying not only on qualification testing, but also on the assessment of design methods, materials as well as manufacturing processes. This approach has proven particularly relevant considering several specificities of the flexible pipe industry: no ‘on-the-shelf’ design (each pipe being designed for project specific conditions), manufacturer specific local design methodologies, specific materials and manufacturing methods, high complexity and cost of testing.
This paper presents the verification methodology, its application as well as its ability to embody the latest normative requirements given in [1]. The specificity of the verification scheme, which consists in a breakdown between a Type Approval phase and a project phase, is also presented.