On the performance of integral buckle arrestors for offshore pipelines

Abstract This paper presents the results of a study on the effectiveness of integral buckle arrestors for offshore pipelines. A series of full scale experiments were conducted where the pressure at which buckles propagating quasi-statically crossed arrestors of various lengths and thicknesses was established. The crossover pressures were used to establish the parametric dependence of the arresting efficiency (as defined in Kyriakides and Babcock, ASME Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology102 (1980) and Proceedings of Offshore Technology Conference (1979)) of such devices. Buckles penetrated the arrestor in two modes: the flattening mode, where the arrestor and downstream pipe collapse in the same manner as the incoming buckle and the flipped mode, where the sense of collapse of the downstream pipe is orthogonal to the incoming buckle. The mode switch occurred in the neighborhood of efficiency of 0.7. The process of quasi-static engagement of an arrestor by a propagating buckle, the temporary arrest of the buckle and the eventual crossing of the arrestor were simulated through a finite element model. The model is based on finite deformation kinematics, incorporates J2-type plasticity with isotropic hardening, and allows for contact of the walls of the collapsed section of pipe upstream of the arrestor. The model was verified by simulating each of the 15 physical experiments conducted using the actual geometric and material characteristics of the test specimens. The crossover pressures of the simulations were within 5% from the measured values and the mode of crossover was predicted correctly as well. The model was subsequently used to extend the experimental parametric study of arrestor efficiency. Some limiting values of the parameters were established from the results and several design recommendations are made.

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