Advances In 3-D FEA Techniques For Metallic Tube Umbilicals

This paper describes the application of FEA techniques to assess the structural performance of a subsea umbilical system. A 3-D FEA (finite element analysis) model of a steel tube umbilical was constructed and validated against full scale test data for tensile, bending and crushing loads cases. Once confidence in the validity of model had been gained, it was used as a virtual prototype to simulate an installation load (combination of tensile load and bending, as well as contact force between components) which resulted in plastic straining of the steel tubes. During this operation, ovality of the steel tubes was monitored to assess handling limits.