Mechanical Behaviors of Metallic Strip Flexible Pipe Under Axisymmetric Loads

Abstract

Metallic Strip Flexible Pipe (MSFP) is regarded as a promising alternative for submarine pipelines. During the operation and service phases, MSFP will inevitably experience significant tension as well as internal and external pressures. In order to ensure the security and reliability of MSFP in the application, the mechanical responses of MSFP subjected to axisymmetric loads should be carefully estimated. In this paper, a theoretical model estimating the tension stiffness under axisymmetric loads is established, which takes the material plasticity into consideration. Additionally, a finite element model is developed by ABAQUS to verify the feasibility of the proposed theoretical model. The results from full-scale tensile tests of MSFP are also adopted to verify the proposed method’s validity in calculating its tension behavior. The coincidence between the results from different methods illustrates the accuracy and reliability of the proposed theoretical model. Based on the parametric study, some interesting conclusions have been obtained which may be useful for the practical application of MSFP.