Flexible Reinforced Pipe Helical Tape Composite Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flexible pipes fail to maintain flexibility and pressure containment in low temperature environments and high pressure conditions, especially when installed using a plough chute and buried unrestrained, leading to potential buckling and leakage.
Innovation Solution
A flexible pipe design featuring an inner liner, a reinforcement layer with helically wrapped plies of fiber reinforcements, and an outer thermoplastic jacket, which provides impact resistance and chemical resistance, allowing for installation in freezing temperatures and high pressure applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the pipe is made flexible for installation using a plough chute, then the pipe can be installed in low temperature environments, but the pipe may collapse or buckle under high pressure conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The pipe uses a composite structure combining an inner thermoplastic liner with an outer reinforcement layer containing helically wrapped fiber tapes embedded in a thermoplastic matrix. This composite construction provides both flexibility for installation and sufficient strength for pressure containment, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcement layer uses helically wrapped tapes at specific angles to create a curved, spiral reinforcement pattern that distributes stress evenly around the pipe circumference. This curved geometry allows the pipe to flex during installation while maintaining pressure containment capability when pressurized.
2Shape
If the pipe wall is made thin to maintain flexibility, then the pipe can bend without buckling, but the pipe may collapse under high pressure when buried unrestrained
Solution Approach 1:
The thin-walled pipe achieves both flexibility and pressure resistance through composite construction: a thin thermoplastic liner provides flexibility and chemical resistance, while an outer reinforcement layer with helically wrapped fiber tapes provides the necessary strength to resist external pressure and prevent collapse when buried unrestrained.
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcement is applied locally where needed - the helical tapes are wrapped around the pipe at specific angles to provide circumferential strength exactly where required to prevent collapse, while the rest of the pipe wall remains thin to maintain flexibility. This localized reinforcement resolves the contradiction between thin walls and pressure resistance.
3Strength
If the pipe is made rigid to contain high pressure flows, then the pipe can withstand pressure, but the pipe cannot be installed using a plough chute in low temperature environments
Solution Approach 1:
The pipe uses a composite structure where a thermoplastic liner provides chemical resistance and a reinforcement layer with fiber tapes provides pressure containment strength, while the overall construction remains flexible enough for plough chute installation. The composite nature allows simultaneous achievement of rigidity for pressure and flexibility for installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The pipe exhibits dynamic behavior - it is flexible during installation to allow plough chute insertion, then becomes effectively rigid when pressurized to contain high pressure flows. The helical reinforcement structure allows the pipe to flex during installation but resists collapse when internal pressure is applied, resolving the contradiction between installation flexibility and pressure containment.
4Stress or pressure
If the pipe uses a thick wall to prevent collapse, then the pipe can resist external pressure, but the pipe loses flexibility and may buckle during installation
Solution Approach 1:
The pipe achieves external pressure resistance without thick walls through composite construction: a thin thermoplastic liner maintains flexibility to prevent buckling during installation, while an outer reinforcement layer with helically wrapped fiber tapes provides the necessary strength to resist external pressure and prevent collapse when buried unrestrained.
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible pipe includes: an inner liner formed as a tube and having an outer surface and an inner surface defining an inner diameter; a reinforcement layer bonded to the inner liner and including at least a first ply of reinforcing tape helically wrapped in a first helical direction about the inner liner and a second ply of reinforcing tape helically wrapped about the first ply of reinforcing tape, the second ply of reinforcing tape helically wrapped in a second helical direction opposite to the first helical direction; and an outer jacket applied over and bonded to the reinforcement layer, the outer jacket including a thermoplastic. A reinforcing tape for use in the pipe or other applications includes: a plurality of reinforcing fibers and a matrix about the plurality of reinforcing fibers to hold the reinforcing fibers in the form of a tape, the matrix including thermoplastic and an additive to increase the impact resistance of the thermoplastic.