Study on the Failure Mechanism of Flexible Pipes Under Large Torsion Considering the Layer Interaction

Flexible pipe is the typical multi-layer structure which is designed to resist different loads when it is utilized under the severe deep-water environment. However, there is not any structural layer to withstand the torsion specially. Tension armors are only arranged to bear the tension with consideration of the torque balance. Especially, when flexible pipe is loaded out from the cargo vessel to the installation vessel, twist angle could be accumulated at high level so that all of layers need to resist the torsion. So, the failure mechanism is very complicated due to the interaction effect between different layers. Firstly, the interaction mechanism between layers of flexible pipes is analyzed under large torsion and some potential failure modes are identified, namely the strength failure and buckling failure of tensile armor, collapse failure of the inner layers. The theoretical descriptions of involved failure behaviors are investigated and the governing physical effects of failure modes are discussed. In addition, some failure criteria for predicting the pipe capacity are introduced. Finally, the methodology can be used to predict the flexible pipe torsional capacity and to prevent the torsional failure in engineering.