Abstract

As offshore pipeline projects have expanded to deeper water regions with depths of more than 2,000 m, linepipes are required to have higher resistance against collapse by external pressure. Collapse resistance is mainly controlled by the pipe geometry and compressive yield strength. In UOE pipe, the compressive yield strength along the circumferential direction changes dramatically due to tensile pre-strain that occurs in pipe forming processes such as the expansion process. In order to improve the compressive yield strength of pipes, it is important to consider the Bauschinger effect caused by pipe expansion. As the mechanism of this effect, it is understood that internal stress is generated by the accumulation of dislocations, and this reduces reverse flow stress. Compressive yield strength is also changed by the thermal cycle associated with application of fusion-bond epoxy in pipe anti-corrosion coating by the induction heating process. In the typical thermal heat cycle of this coating process, the maximum heat temperature is from 200 °C to 250 °C. In this case, compressive yield strength increases as an effect of the thermal cycle, resulting in increased collapse resistance. Thus, for deep water application of UEO linepipe, it is important to clarify the conflicting effects of the Bauschinger effect and the thermal heat cycle on compressive yield strength. Based on this background, in this study, the combined effect of the Bauschinger effect and the thermal heat cycle on compressive stress is investigated by conducting tensile pre-strain tests and simulation of the thermal cycle associated with coating. Compressive yield strength was obtained for several pre-strain and thermal cycle conditions, and the collapse pressure was calculated by an FE analysis based on the obtained compressive yield strength. This study discusses the effect of tensile pre-strain on the collapse pressure of linepipes with these simulated thermal heat cycles.

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