Analysis of Subsea Umbilical Mechanical Behavior Under Simultaneous Bending, Tension and Torsion

One of the major failure modes of an umbilical is found to occur under simultaneous bending, tension and torsion. Umbilical cables are compatible in bending but have a rigid response to tension and torsion, hence validation the axisymmetric performance of it, is a significant matter. This paper has applied theoretical models to analyze umbilical cables mechanical behavior under combined loading. Lanteigne (1985) theoretical model, which its feature is a large-diameter central pipe umbilical cross section with homogeneous materials that a number of wires helically wrapped around it, is developed in this article. The equilibrium equations are presented and showed the helical elements effects on bending, tension and torsion of the umbilical cable.