Numerical and laboratory experimental analysis of the movement of silicone cleaning pigs through 90-degree bends pipe

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Analysis of the stress-strain state of cylindrical cleaning pigs manufactured of hyperelastic material during their movement through the pipe bends of the pipelines, identification of maximum contact forces' points, and places of their separation from the inner wall. The effect of the dynamic friction coefficient between the pig's lateral surface and the pipeline's inner wall on the value of the maximum equivalent von Mises stresses in the pig is investigated – determination of the required pressure for the passage of the pig through pipeline bends.The finite element method performs numerical modelling of the pigs' movement through pipeline bends is performed. The non-linear properties of a hyperelastic pig material (a silicone compound with a hardness of 30 units on the Shore scale) are described by the potential Yeoh strain energy model. The contact interaction of the pig with the inner wall of the pipe bend is modelled by a surface-to-surface contact with dynamic friction coefficients of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 between them. For research, pigs with a length of 60 mm, 75 mm and 90 mm with a convex front and a concave rear end were manufactured and modelled. The experimental unit was designed and mounted from metal and glass pipes, between which pipe bends were placed with a bending angle of 90 and a bending radius of 1.5 DN. The metal pipeline has an internal diameter of 49 mm and a total length of 5.3 m, and the glass pipeline is 54 mm and 5 m, respectively. The experimental installation made of glass pipes was designed for visual observation of the dynamics of the pig movement through the glass pipeline bend and from metal – for measuring the pressure during the pig movement along the straight sections and the pipeline bend. To verify the correctness of the numerical modelling, the fully calculated deformations of the cleaning pigs in the bends of the pipeline were visualized and compared with photographs of the deformations of the pigs during their movement through the glass bends of the pipelines.The bending of the pig in the pipe bend and contact forces increase equivalent von Mises stresses in the pig. Moreover, during the movement of the pig in a pipe bend, the distribution of equivalent von Mises stresses in it, as well as its deformations, changes continuously. It depends on the stage at which it is located. Numerical modelling and experiments have established that when the pig is at the stage of movement in the middle part of the pipe bend, due to bending, its lateral surface is partially separated from the inner wall of the pipe bend. With this, on the convex side of the pipe bend, the pig is separated from the wall in the front and rear parts and on the concave side – in the middle part. This separation of the lateral surface of the pig from the inner wall of the pipe bend results in the formation of a gap and cross-flows through the pig, reducing the pressure drop on it, which can lead to its sticking. For pigs made of silicone compound with a hardness of 30 units on the Shore scale to pass pipeline bends with a bending angle of 90 and a bending radius of 1.5 DN, the pressure in the pig space shall be at least twice as high as the pressure required for the pig to move along a straight section of the pipeline.Modelling and experimental studies were performed for pigs made of silicone compound. Therefore, subsequent studies will establish the influence of other hyperelastic materials' physical and mechanical properties on the pig movement along the pipeline bends.The results obtained in this study allow for determining the possibility of pigs passing through the pipeline bends of gas gathering systems at gas fields and gas networks, determining the necessary pressure for this and, if necessary, optimising the geometric shape and dimensions of the pigs passing through the pipe bends.The influence of the location of a solid pig made of hyperelastic material in the pipeline bend and the coefficient of dynamic friction on the stress-strain state of the pig is studied. The article contains original experimental units designed and installed to study the movement of pigs through pipeline bends.