Enhanced Collapse Resistance for Different D/t Ratios of UOE Pipes for Ultra Deepwater Application

Author(s):  
Rodrigo De Lucca ◽  
Rafael F. Solano ◽  
Doug Swanek ◽  
Fabio B. de Azevedo ◽  
Fábio Arroyo ◽  
...  

Energy consumption outlook shows that the demand for Oil and Gas is increasing worldwide and since most of the undemanding reserves are already being explored, new reserves means longer distances from the shore and increasing water depths, of up to 3,000 meters. Collapse resistance has become a key factor in the design of pipelines for ultra-deepwater applications. UOE process is commonly used for manufacturing pipelines of large diameter and the cold work involved in this forming process modifies the mechanical properties of the pipes. This paper presents the effect of thermal treatment on final material properties, proving the validity of enhancing collapse for different D/t, as allowed by DNV-OS-F101 αFab, and extending what has been shown as valid on previous studies. In this work, the inputs for the processing strategies are presented, along with coupon compression testing and full scale testing, in order to qualify the selected route as compliant with producing pipes with αFab equal to 1, for usual D/t combinations. An analysis of the predicted collapse pressure compared to the real collapse pressure of the pipes is also presented. The extension of the qualification process achieved successful results and allows the use of a fabrication factor equal to 1 in ultra-deepwater offshore pipeline projects. This enables the reduction of wall thickness, generating reductions in material and offshore installation costs and also potentially enhancing the feasibility of many challenging offshore projects.

Author(s):  
Santiago Serebrinsky ◽  
Fábio Arroyo ◽  
Martín Valdez ◽  
Ronaldo Silva

The worldwide share of oil&gas produced from offshore sources is constantly increasing. Accordingly, deep and ultra-deep water projects go to ever increasing depths. Large diameter pipes for this type of projects are often manufactured by the UOE process. After the cold work associated with UOE forming, mechanical properties of pipe material are different from those of the original plate. In particular, the circumferential compression behavior is markedly affected by the Baushcinger effect which develops after the last expansion step, and this is a key property for the resistance to collapse under external pressurization. Standard formulas for the assessment of the collapse pressure pc variedly account for this effect. For instance, DNV OS-F101 penalizes the SMYS of the pipe with a fabrication factor αfab that reduces the pc rating of UOE pipes. Understanding the effect of deformation history on final material properties becomes desirable for a proper identification of processing strategies. A testing program was developed aimed at evaluating the effect of UOE forming on final transverse compression behavior, as it is relevant for collapse resistance. Work softening (i.e., the Bauschinger effect) and hardening were quantified under a variety of deformation operations.


Author(s):  
Fábio Arroyo ◽  
Rafael F. Solano ◽  
Luciano Mantovano ◽  
Fábio B. de Azevedo ◽  
Hélio Alves ◽  
...  

Large diameter UOE pipes are being increasingly used for the construction of offshore pipelines. Since oil discoveries are moving towards ultra-deepwater areas, such as Pre-Salt in Brazil, collapse resistance is a key factor in the design of the pipelines. It is known that the cold forming, and the final expansion in the UOE linepipe manufacturing process, reduces the elastic limit of the steel in subsequent compression. Due to this, the DNV collapse formula includes a fabrication factor that derates by a 15% the yield strength of UOE Pipes. However, DNV also recognizes the effect of thermal treatments and the code allows for improvement of the fabrication factor when heat treatment or external cold sizing (compression) is applied, if documented. This paper presents the qualification of UOE pipes with enhanced collapse capacity focusing the use of a fabrication factor (αfab) equal to 1. TenarisConfab has performed a technology qualification process according to DNV-RP-A203 standard “Qualification Procedures for New Technology”. The main aspects of the qualification process are presented in this paper which included significant material and full scale testing, including combine load testing, and final analysis. The qualification process achieved successful results and this will allow use of a fabrication factor equal to 1 directly in deepwater and ultra-deepwater offshore pipeline projects with a possible reduction in material and offshore installation costs and also potentially enhancing the feasibility of many challenging offshore projects.


Author(s):  
Fábio Arroyo ◽  
Harold R. León ◽  
Ronaldo Silva ◽  
Luciano Mantovano ◽  
Rafael F. Solano ◽  
...  

Large diameter UOE pipes are being increasingly used for the construction of offshore pipelines and in the last few year, since oil discoveries are moving towards ultra-deepwater areas, such as Pre-Salt in Brazil, collapse resistance is a key factor in the design of the pipelines the demand for pipes with high thickness near the limits for fabrication and installation capacity. It is known that the cold forming, and the final expansion in the UOE line pipe manufacturing process, reduces the elastic limit of the steel in subsequent compression. Due to this, the DNV collapse formula includes a fabrication factor that de-rates by a 15% the yield strength of UOE Pipes. However, DNV also recognizes the effect of thermal treatments and the code allows for improvement of the fabrication factor when heat treatment or external cold sizing (compression) is applied, if documented. In previous work [1] it was presented the qualification of UOE pipes with enhanced collapse capacity focusing the use of a fabrication factor (alpha-fab) equal to 1. A technology qualification process according to international standard has been performed. The main aspects of the qualification process were presented and included significant material, full scale testing and final analysis. In this paper, we compare those results with the ones of the new qualification tests analyzing the more important variables affecting the collapse resistance such as ovality, compressive material strength, thermal treatment control, etc. This new qualification obtained even better results than the previous one, which will allow the use of a fabrication factor equal to 1 directly in deepwater and ultra-deepwater offshore pipeline projects with a possible reduction in material and offshore installation costs and also potentially enhancing the feasibility of many challenging offshore projects.


Author(s):  
Stelios Kyriakides ◽  
Mark D. Herynk ◽  
Heedo Yun

Large-diameter pipes used in offshore applications are commonly manufactured by cold-forming plates through the UOE process. Collapse experiments have demonstrated that these steps, especially the final expansion, degrade the mechanical properties of the pipe and result in a reduction in its collapse pressure, upwards of 30%. In this study, the UOE forming process has been modeled numerically so that the effects of press parameters of each forming step on the final geometry and mechanical properties of the pipe can be established. The final step involves simulation of pipe collapse under external pressure. An extensive parametric study of the problem has been conducted, through which ways of optimizing the process for improved collapse performance have been established. For example, it was found that optimum collapse pressure requires a tradeoff between pipe shape (ovality) and material degradation. Generally, increase in the O-strain and decrease in the expansion strain improve the collapse pressure. Substituting the expansion by compression can not only alleviate the UOE collapse pressure degradation but can result in a significant increase in collapse performance.


Author(s):  
Luciano O. Mantovano ◽  
Santiago Serebrinsky ◽  
Hugo A. Ernst ◽  
Teresa Perez ◽  
Martin Valdez ◽  
...  

Large diameter UOE pipes are being increasingly used for the construction of offshore pipelines. Since oil discoveries are moving towards ultra deep water areas, collapse resistance is a key factor in the design of the pipelines. It has been demonstrated in previous works that the application of typical coating thermal treatments increases the collapse resistance of the pipes recovering the original strength of the plate. To improve the understanding of these effects, the Tenaris has embarked on a program of both, experimental testing and finite element modeling. Previous phases of this work formulated the basis for model development and described the 2D approach taken to model the various stages of manufacture, from the plate to the final pipe and the collapse test. More recent developments included some modeling enhancements, sensitivity analyses, and comparison of predictions to the results of full scale collapse testing. In the present work, 3D finite element analyses of collapse were performed and compared with the latest collapse and propagation tests performed by Tenaris, where the effect of typical coating thermal treatments was studied and significant increments in the collapse pressure of pipes were obtained. The numerical results show a good agreement with the experimental ones and could predict the increment produced in the collapse pressure by the effect of the thermal treatments. Comparison of the results with the predictions from API RP 1111 and DNV OS-F101 equations was also performed. The outcomes of this study will be employed to further optimize the collapse resistance of subsea linepipe in order to reduce material and offshore installation costs through the increment of the fabrication factor as stated in the DNV OSF101 standard.


1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kyriakides ◽  
E. Corona ◽  
F. J. Fischer

A commonly used process for manufacturing large-diameter tubes for offshore pipeline, riser and tension-leg platform tether applications involves the cold forming of long plates. The plates are bent into a circular shape and then welded. The circumference of the pipe is then plastically expanded to develop a high tolerance circular shape. Collectively, these steps comprise the U-O-E manufacturing process. These mechanical steps cause changes in the material properties and introduce residual stresses in the finished pipe. This paper presents the results of a combined experimental and analytical study of the effect on the U-O-E process on the capacity of the tube to resist collapse under external pressure loading. The U-O-E manufacturing process for a 26 in. (660 mm) diameter, 1.333 in. (33.86 mm) wall thickness pipe was simulated numerically. The numerical process was validated by comparing the predicted stress-strain behavior of the material at two stages in the process with properties measured from actual pipe specimens obtained from the mill. Following the simulation of the U-O-E process the collapse pressure was calculated numerically. The manufacturing process was found to significantly reduce the collapse pressure. A similar pipe for which the final sizing was conducted (simulated) with circumferential contraction (instead of expansion) was found not to have this degradation in collapse pressure.


Author(s):  
Mark Fryer ◽  
Peter Tait ◽  
Stelios Kyriakides ◽  
Chris Timms ◽  
Duane DeGeer

With the increasing development of oil and gas reserves in water depths greater than 1500 m, linepipe used for deepwater and ultra-deepwater applications will require enhanced resistance to hydrostatic collapse. To support this need, Corus Tubes has been investigating methods by which increases in UOE linepipe collapse strength can be achieved. In particular, it has been theorised that modifications to the UOE manufacturing process can provide the necessary collapse strength enhancements. Pipe production trials were conducted focusing on the effect of processing parameters during UOE linepipe production, and in addition low temperature heat treatment was used to assess its effect. Full-scale collapse tests were then performed on the resulting linepipe specimens to validate the increase in collapse strength. The results of this work have demonstrated the beneficial effect of a modified UOE manufacturing approach on linepipe collapse resistance. This paper summarizes the work performed, quantifies the increase in collapse strength, and compares the test results to collapse equations found in offshore pipeline standards. It is also demonstrated that the UOE fabrication factor of 0.85 in the DNV offshore pipeline code (DNV OS-F101) may be considered to be over conservative, when linepipe is manufactured using the modified approach summarized herein.


Author(s):  
Giannoula Chatzopoulou ◽  
Gregory C. Sarvanis ◽  
Chrysanthi I. Papadaki ◽  
Spyros A. Karamanos

Large-diameter spiral-welded pipes are employed in demanding hydrocarbon pipeline applications, which require an efficient strain-based design framework. In the course of a large European project, numerical simulations on spiral-welded pipes are conducted to examine their bending deformation capacity in the presence of internal pressure referring to geohazard actions, as well as their capacity under external pressure for offshore applications in moderate deep water. Numerical models that simulate the manufacturing process (decoiling and spiral cold bending) are employed. Subsequently, the residual stresses due to cold bending are used to examine the capacity of pipe under external pressure and internally-pressurized bending. A parametric analysis is conducted to examine the effect of spiral cold forming process on the structural behavior of spiral welded pipes and the effect of internal pressure on bending capacity. The results from the present study support the argument that spiral-welded pipes can be used in demanding onshore and offshore pipeline applications.


2014 ◽  
Vol 997 ◽  
pp. 517-521
Author(s):  
Li Feng Fan ◽  
Ying Gao ◽  
Jian Bin Yun ◽  
Lin Feng Dong

Crimping is widely used in production of large diameter submerged-arc welding pipes. Traditionally, the designers obtain the technical parameters for crimping from experience or trial-errors by experiments. To tackle this problem, a theoretical analytical model is proposed to analysis crimping forming process. In this paper, taking the crimping of X80 steel Φ1219mm×22mm×12000mm welding pipe for instance, the theoretical analytical model is constructed by quadratic polynomial curve fitting technique and mechanics theory. And it is verified by a comparison with experiment results. Thus, the presented model of this research provides an effective path to design crimping parameters.


Author(s):  
Hidenori Shitamoto ◽  
Nobuyuki Hisamune

There are several methods currently being used to install offshore oil and gas pipelines. The reel-lay process is fast and one of the most effective offshore pipeline installation methods for seamless, ERW, and UOE line pipes with outside diameters of 18 inches or less. In the case of the reel-laying method, line pipes are subjected to plastic deformation multiplication during reel-laying. It is thus important to understand the change of the mechanical properties of line pipes before and after reel-laying. Therefore, full-scale reeling (FSR) simulations and small-scale reeling (SSR) simulations are applied as evaluation tests for reel-laying. In this study, FSR simulations were performed to investigate the effect of cyclic deformation on the mechanical properties of weldable 13Cr seamless line pipes. Furthermore, SSR simulations were performed to compare the results obtained by FSR simulations.


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