Residual strength of corroded subsea pipelines subject to combined internal pressure and bending moment

Abstract

Subsea pipelines used for oil and gas production in deepwater are exposed to harsh environment involving corrosion, high internal pressure, high temperature, and bending moment. Failure of subsea pipelines can cause serious problems, including oil/gas spill, hydrocarbon explosion and fires, production downtime, and maintenance and repair. Hence, it is of paramount importance to prevent failure of subsea pipelines. The aim of the present study is to investigate the residual strength characteristics of corroded subsea pipelines under combined internal pressure and bending moment. ANSYS non-linear finite element method was applied to examine the residual strength characteristics of subsea pipelines by varying the corrosion damage and the loading ratio of internal pressure and bending moment, where the size of the corrosion damage was also varied. The ultimate strength interaction relationships of subsea pipelines between the internal pressure and bending moment with various corrosion damages were also developed. Finally, the insights and conclusions of the present study were summarised.