Submarine cable variable-diameter armoring layer and armoring method
By using variable diameter steel wire and caulking steel wire in the armor layer of submarine cables, a thick end and thin middle armor structure is formed, which solves the problem that improving the mechanical performance of sea cable armor in the existing technology requires increasing production costs, and achieves higher mechanical performance and lower production costs.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202411813032.3
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-10
- Publication Date
- 2025-03-11
AI Technical Summary
The existing method of improving the mechanical performance of submarine cable armor requires process adjustments to the entire submarine cable, which increases production costs.
Variable diameter steel wire and caulking steel wire are used to adjust the form, diameter and number of steel wires to form a thick armor structure with both ends and thin middle to achieve the improvement of the mechanical performance of the armor layer.
While maintaining the internal structure of the submarine cable unchanged, the mechanical performance of the submarine cable ends is improved and production costs are reduced.
Smart Images
Figure CN119601307A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The invention relates to a submarine cable variable diameter armor layer and an armoring method, belonging to the technical field of submarine cables. Background Art
[0002] Submarine cables, as important equipment connecting substations or converter stations at both ends, play a vital role. The quality of submarine cable laying has a significant impact on the life and benefits of the entire power supply system. As offshore wind power projects are increasingly far from shore, some high-quality and long submarine cables are used in power transmission projects, which puts higher requirements on the laying of submarine cables. For example, during the construction of submarine cable terminal landing and submarine cable passing through the embankment, facing the complex and changeable construction environment, people have adopted casing protection, cable trenches, etc. to protect the cables.
[0003] In addition, strengthening the mechanical strength of the cable body at the landing end of the submarine cable has also become a research direction in recent years. The existing methods of improving the mechanical properties of submarine cable armor require process adjustments to the entire submarine cable, such as replacing armor wires with larger diameters or using double-layer armor, which greatly increases production costs. Summary of the invention
[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to address the deficiencies of the above-mentioned prior art and to provide a submarine cable variable diameter armor layer and armoring method, without changing the internal structure of the submarine cable. For all submarine cables with armored structures (including but not limited to single-core, three-core, dry, wet, conventional submarine cables, light submarine cables, etc.), by adjusting the form, diameter, and number of steel wires used in the armoring process, an armor structure with thick ends and thin middle is formed, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the mechanical properties of the submarine cable end while using lower production costs.
[0005] The technical solution of the present invention is as follows:
[0006] A variable diameter armor layer of a submarine cable, characterized in that the armor layer adopts variable diameter steel wires and caulking steel wires, which are evenly wound on a cable core according to a required pitch diameter ratio to form a variable diameter armor layer; the variable diameter steel wires are steel wires with thick outer diameters at both ends and thin outer diameters in the middle, and a gap is formed between two adjacent variable diameter steel wires at the thin outer diameter in the middle; the outer diameter of the caulking steel wire is consistent with the size of the thin outer diameter in the middle of the variable diameter steel wire, and the caulking steel wires are evenly distributed along the circumference of the cable core and welded in part of the gaps in the variable diameter steel wires (in the circumferential direction of the cable core, the caulking steel wires do not need to fill all the gaps between the variable diameter steel wires, and only need to set the number of caulking steel wires according to specific circumstances, and space and evenly arrange them along the circumferential direction of the cable core).
[0007] In the above scheme, the manufacturing method of the variable diameter steel wire is roughly the same as that of the traditional equal diameter steel wire. A "wire drawing machine" is used to draw the steel rod into a steel wire of the required diameter through a drawing die. The difference is that the drawing die needs to be replaced during the production process of the variable diameter steel wire, so as to produce the steel wire with thick ends and thin middle required by the present invention.
[0008] In the above scheme, the two ends of the variable diameter steel wire adopt a thick outer diameter (diameter ), the middle is the thin outer diameter (diameter ), the pitch of the variable diameter steel wire remains unchanged during the production process. When the production reaches the middle section with a thin outer diameter, the pitch remains unchanged, the steel wire becomes thinner, and the gap between the steel wires becomes larger (a gap is generated), and it is necessary to weld the caulking steel wire. The caulking steel wire with the same thin outer diameter as the variable diameter steel wire is filled and welded into the gap between the variable diameter steel wires by welding. The weld points at the beginning of all the caulking steel wires form a spiral shape, and the spacing between adjacent weld points is not less than 300mm. The caulking steel wires that need to be added are welded into the armor layer in turn to improve the structural stability and reduce the risk of weld breakage; similarly, the weld points at the ends of all the caulking steel wires form a spiral shape. When producing from thin steel wire to thick steel wire section, the number of caulking steel wires needs to be gradually reduced, and the ends of the caulking steel wires need to be well welded to the gaps of the variable diameter steel wires, eventually forming a cable that is thick at both ends and thin in the middle.
[0009] A method for armoring a submarine cable variable diameter armor layer, characterized in that it comprises the following steps:
[0010] (1) Drag the cable core to be armored to the opening of the armoring mold, hoist the wire drum with the reduced diameter steel wire to the corresponding stranding cage, and start armoring production after the synchronous work of paying out, taking up and pulling is completed;
[0011] (2) The head armor of the thick outer diameter is firstly carried out. When the variable diameter steel wire is produced to the point close to the number of meters of the variable diameter, the variable diameter steel wire on the wire drum changes from the thick outer diameter to the thin outer diameter. The control of the diameter change point adopts the method of double winding meter counting to determine the distribution of the number of meters of the thick outer diameter and the thin outer diameter on different wire drums of the cage; the process of producing the variable diameter steel wire from the thin outer diameter to the thick outer diameter is the same as above;
[0012] (3) After the head is armored, the reducer wire changes from a thick outer diameter to a thin outer diameter, and large gaps will appear in the armor layer. It is necessary to weld the caulking wire in the gaps of the reducer wire. At this time, the production line is stopped, the wire drum with the caulking wire is hoisted onto the corresponding cage, the caulking wire head is manually dragged to the front of the armoring mold, and the opening ends of all the caulking wires are welded to the gaps of the reducer wire.
[0013] The production line is started to continue production, and the two types of steel wires continue to be wrapped along the production line;
[0014] The specific process of the above-mentioned welding of the beginning of the caulking steel wire is: when the meter meter on the observation table shows the number of meters of the thick steel wire section minus 1 to 2 meters (the diameter change point is located 1 to 2 meters in front of the armoring mold), the production line is stopped. At this time, the distance between the armoring mold and the branching plate is 4 to 5 meters. According to the needs, each shutdown can be used to weld multiple caulking steel wires on the premise of ensuring the distribution distance of the welding points, and then the production line is started, and the welding is stopped after running for 4 to 5 meters, and then the welding is continued, and so on, until the welding of the beginning of all the caulking steel wires is completed; according to the needs, the number of caulking steel wires to be welded is set, and the number of meters between the welding points is reasonably controlled to make the welding points evenly distributed; when the welding of the beginning of all the caulking steel wires is completed, the mold is adjusted, and the thin outer diameter mold is installed and adjusted in place;
[0015] (4) After the reduced diameter steel wire changes from a thin outer diameter to a thick outer diameter, the production line is stopped again to perform the end welding of the caulking steel wire (same as the above-mentioned caulking steel wire start welding process. When all the caulking steel wire ends are welded, the thin outer diameter die is opened and the thick outer diameter die is used. The number of caulking steel wires is gradually reduced, and the tail armoring of the thick outer diameter is continued. Note that the armoring die should be adjusted in time after the steel wire changes diameter so that the steel wire is always tightly wrapped.
[0016] Furthermore, the number of the above-mentioned armored steel wires is calculated as follows:
[0017] The outer diameters of both ends of the variable diameter steel wire are The middle outer diameter is but:
[0018] Number of reducer wires Where d is the outer diameter of the cable core before armoring, the pitch is kept unchanged, that is, the twist coefficient remains unchanged, and λ is the twist coefficient;
[0019] Number of caulking wires
[0020] Since the armored part is thick at both ends and thin in the middle, the diameter-changing part is at the end of the submarine cable, and the length usually has certain requirements, the diameter-changing points of the steel wire also need to be controlled as much as possible to make them evenly distributed within a shorter length range to avoid material waste. The specific control method is:
[0021] The length L of the submarine cable is known and fixed, and the wire twist coefficient λ is calculated and determined, so the total length of the required variable diameter steel wire is also fixed, which is L×λ; the length of the steel wire on each wire reel needs to be accurately measured during the armor production process. Since the submarine cable is usually tens of kilometers long, the wire reel cannot be wound with the required length at one time, so the reel needs to be replaced during the production process, and the production continues after the wire is welded; when the production reaches the required diameter change length, the wire reel of the same cage is rewound with accurate meter count to control the distance between the diameter change points of adjacent wire reels; the wire reels of different cages can also control the distance between the diameter change points by rewinding after adding the cage spacing. In this way, the diameter change point of each variable diameter steel wire can be evenly controlled within a certain length.
[0022] Furthermore, the distance between the welding points of adjacent caulking steel wires is not less than 300 mm.
[0023] Furthermore, the armoring mold adopts a double mold, namely a coarse outer diameter mold and a fine outer diameter mold, which correspond to the cable outer diameters of the coarse outer diameter section and the fine outer diameter section of the variable diameter steel wire respectively; the coarse outer diameter mold is always fixedly installed, and when the variable diameter steel wire is produced from a coarse outer diameter to a fine outer diameter, the fine outer diameter mold is fixed and pressed against the cable core; when the variable diameter steel wire is produced from a thin outer diameter to a coarse outer diameter, the fine outer diameter mold is released so that the steel wire is always tightly wrapped.
[0024] The present invention provides a submarine cable variable diameter armor layer and armoring method. Through a series of innovative methods such as innovative design, theoretical calculation, wire welding control, and mold adjustment of the armor steel wire, a solution is provided for the higher requirements on the mechanical strength of the armor layers at both ends of the submarine cable during the submarine cable laying construction process in the current industry. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the variable diameter steel wire in the present invention;
[0026] Figure 2 It is a result schematic diagram of the variable diameter armor layer in the present invention;
[0027] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of armor production in the present invention;
[0028] In the figure: 1 cable to be armored, 2 first stranding cage, 3 wire drum, 4 steel wire, 5 second stranding cage, 6 distribution board, 7 armoring mold (double mold), 8 armored cable. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0029] Example 1
[0030] A variable diameter armor layer for submarine cables is formed by winding variable diameter steel wires and caulking steel wires evenly around a cable core according to a required pitch diameter ratio to form a variable diameter armor with thick ends and a thin middle.
[0031] Reduced diameter wire, such as Figure 1 As shown, it is a steel wire with thick outer diameters at both ends and thin outer diameters in the middle. The middle outer diameter is
[0032] During the production process, the pitch of the variable diameter steel wire remains unchanged. When the steel wire reaches the thin outer diameter in the middle section, the pitch remains unchanged, the steel wire becomes thinner, and the gap between the steel wires becomes larger. A gap is generated between the two adjacent variable diameter steel wires at the thin outer diameter in the middle, and a filler wire is needed. Figure 2 As shown, the outer diameter of the caulking steel wire is consistent with the size of the thin outer diameter in the middle of the reducing steel wire, and the caulking steel wire is evenly distributed along the circumference of the cable core and welded in part of the gaps of the reducing steel wire.
[0033] Example 2
[0034] A method for armoring a submarine cable variable-diameter armor layer, comprising the following steps:
[0035] (1) The steel wires used in the armor layer are variable diameter steel wires and caulking steel wires. The calculation method for the number of the two types of steel wires is as follows:
[0036] The outer diameter of the two ends of the reducer wire is The middle outer diameter is but:
[0037] Number of reducer wires Where d is the outer diameter of the cable core before armoring, the pitch is kept unchanged, that is, the twist coefficient remains unchanged, and λ is the twist coefficient;
[0038] Number of caulking wires
[0039] (2) Before production, the cable core to be armored is dragged to the mouth of the armoring mold using a traction rope. The cable end is armored with a thick outer diameter. The wire drum equipped with the variable diameter steel wire is hoisted onto the corresponding cage (the PP rope cushion layer and asphalt anti-corrosion layer of the adjacent layer of the armored steel wire are not closely related to the innovative content of this embodiment and are not described in detail in this embodiment). After the synchronous work of paying out, taking up and pulling is completed, the armoring production can be started. While the cage is rotating, a certain production line speed is matched, and the variable diameter steel wire is evenly wound on the cable according to the pre-calculated pitch diameter ratio, and finally the wire is taken up and placed in the tray;
[0040] (3) The cable end has a thick outer diameter. The thick outer diameter head is armored first. The diameter change is achieved directly by the reducing wire on the wire drum. When the reducing wire is produced to the point close to the reduced diameter, the reducing wire on the wire drum changes from the thick outer diameter to the thin outer diameter. The diameter change point is controlled by the double winding meter method to determine the distribution of the meters of the thick outer diameter and the thin outer diameter on the different wire drums of the cage. The process of producing the reducing wire from the thin outer diameter to the thick outer diameter is the same as above.
[0041] (4) After the head is armored, when the reducer wire changes from a thick outer diameter to a thin outer diameter, a large gap will appear in the armor layer, and it is necessary to weld the caulking wire in the gap; at this time, stop the production line, hoist the wire reel with the caulking wire to the corresponding cage, manually drag the caulking wire head to the armoring mold mouth, use a hot welder to weld all the caulking wire ends (heads) into the gap, and polish them slightly after welding; start the production line to continue production, and the two types of steel wires continue to wrap along the production line;
[0042] The specific process of welding the beginning of the caulking wire is: when the meter meter on the observation table shows the number of meters of the thick steel wire section minus 1 to 2 meters (the diameter change point is located 1 to 2 meters in front of the armoring mold), stop the production line. At this time, the distance between the armoring mold and the branching plate is 4 to 5 meters. According to the needs, each shutdown can be used to weld multiple caulking wires under the premise of ensuring the distribution distance of the welding points, and then start the production line, run 4 to 5 meters, and then stop to continue welding, and so on, until the beginning of all the caulking wires is welded; when the beginning of all the caulking wires is welded, adjust the mold and install the thin outer diameter mold in place;
[0043] According to the number of caulking steel wires to be welded, the welding interval should be reasonably controlled to ensure that the welding points are evenly distributed, and the distance between the welding points of adjacent caulking steel wires should not be less than 300mm;
[0044] (5) After the reducer wire changes from a thin outer diameter to a thick outer diameter, the production line is stopped again to perform the end welding of the caulking wire (same as the above-mentioned caulking wire start welding process. When all the caulking wire ends are welded, the thin outer diameter die is opened and the thick outer diameter die is used. The number of caulking wires is gradually reduced, and the tail armoring of the thick outer diameter is continued.
[0045] Pay attention to timely adjustment of the armoring mold after the steel wire changes diameter, so that the steel wire is always tightly wrapped. Specifically: the armoring mold uses a double mold, namely a coarse outer diameter mold and a fine outer diameter mold, which correspond to the cable outer diameters of the coarse outer diameter section and the fine outer diameter section of the changed diameter steel wire respectively; the coarse outer diameter mold is always fixedly installed. When the changed diameter steel wire is produced from a coarse outer diameter to a fine outer diameter, the fine outer diameter mold is fixed and pressed against the cable core. When the changed diameter steel wire is produced from a fine outer diameter to a coarse outer diameter, the fine outer diameter mold is released to ensure that the steel wire is always tightly wrapped.
Claims
1. A variable diameter armor layer for a submarine cable, characterized in that: The armor layer is made of variable diameter steel wire and caulking steel wire, which are evenly wound on the cable core according to the required pitch diameter ratio to form a variable diameter armor layer; the variable diameter steel wire is a steel wire with a thick outer diameter at both ends and a thin outer diameter in the middle, and a gap is generated between two adjacent variable diameter steel wires at the thin outer diameter in the middle; the outer diameter of the caulking steel wire is consistent with the size of the thin outer diameter in the middle of the variable diameter steel wire, and the caulking steel wire is evenly distributed along the circumference of the cable core and welded in part of the gaps in the variable diameter steel wire.
2. The armoring method of a submarine cable variable diameter armor layer according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The following steps are involved: (1) Drag the cable core to be armored to the opening of the armoring mold, hoist the wire drum with the reduced diameter steel wire to the corresponding stranding cage, and start armoring production after the synchronous work of paying out, taking up and pulling is completed; (2) When the variable diameter steel wire is produced to the point close to the number of meters of variable diameter, the variable diameter steel wire on the steel wire drum changes from a thick outer diameter to a thin outer diameter. The control of the diameter change point adopts a double winding metering method to determine the distribution of the number of meters of thick outer diameter and thin outer diameter on different steel wire drums of the cage; the process of producing the variable diameter steel wire from a thin outer diameter to a thick outer diameter is the same as above; (3) After the reducer wire changes from a thick outer diameter to a thin outer diameter, a large gap will appear in the armor layer, and it is necessary to weld a filler wire in the gap. At this time, the production line is stopped, the wire reel with the filler wire is hoisted onto the corresponding cage, the filler wire head is manually dragged to the front of the armor mold mouth, and welded into the gap. The production line is started to continue production. According to the number of filler wires to be welded, the welding interval is reasonably controlled to ensure that the welding points are evenly distributed. (4) Pay attention to timely adjust the armor mold after the steel wire changes diameter so that the steel wire is always tightly wrapped.
3. The armoring method of a submarine cable variable diameter armor layer according to claim 2, characterized in that: The outer diameters of both ends of the variable diameter steel wire are The middle outer diameter is but: Number of reducer wires Where, d is the outer diameter of the cable core before armoring, and λ is the twist coefficient; Number of caulking wires 4. The armoring method of a submarine cable variable diameter armor layer according to claim 2, characterized in that: The distance between welding points of adjacent caulking steel wires shall not be less than 300mm.
5. The armoring method of a submarine cable variable diameter armor layer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The armoring mold adopts double molds, namely a coarse outer diameter mold and a fine outer diameter mold, which correspond to the cable outer diameters of the coarse outer diameter section and the fine outer diameter section of the variable diameter steel wire respectively; the coarse outer diameter mold is always fixedly installed, and when the variable diameter steel wire is produced from a coarse outer diameter to a fine outer diameter, the fine outer diameter mold is fixed and pressed against the cable core; when the variable diameter steel wire is produced from a fine outer diameter to a coarse outer diameter, the fine outer diameter mold is released so that the steel wire is always tightly wrapped.