EFFICIENT FATIGUE ANALYSIS OF HELIX ELEMENTS IN UMBILICALS AND FLEXIBLE RISERS

Fatigue analysis of helix elements such as tensile armors and steel tubes are critical design issues for dynamic umbilicals and flexible pipes. The basis for assessment of fatigue damage of such elements is the long-term stress cycle distribution at critical locations on the helix elements caused by long-term environmental loading on the system. Establishment of the long-term stress cycle distribution will hence require global dynamic time domain analysis followed by cross-sectional analysis in a large number of irregular sea states. An overall computational consistent and efficient fatigue analysis scheme is outlined in this paper. A detailed description is given of cross-sectional analysis techniques required for fatigue stress calculation in helix elements exposed to bending, tensile and pressure loading. Special emphasis is placed on assessment of friction stresses caused by the stick/slip behaviour of helix elements in bending. Such effects are known to be of special importance for fatigue life assessments of deepwater applications of flexible pipes and umbilicals due to increased contact pressure between the individual elements in the cross-section. The described cross-sectional analysis techniques are based on an extensive literature survey and hence considered to represent industry consensus. The performance of the described calculation scheme is illustrated by case studies.