Flexible Pipe Sleeve Member for End Fitting Sealing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flexible pipe end fittings face challenges in ensuring reliable sealing and connection integrity, particularly in deep and ultra-deep water environments, due to material elastic behavior and difficulties in cutting non-uniform pipe layers, leading to potential leaks and suboptimal connections.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a sleeve member and enhanced sealing system with collar members and test ports allows for the testing of sealing integrity under pressure and the use of a sleeve element to bridge gaps between pipe layers and end fittings, ensuring a secure and reliable connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional end fittings are used without intermediate sealing, then the structure is simpler, but sealing reliability deteriorates under high pressure and material elastic behavior
Solution Approach 1:
An intermediate sealing ring is introduced as a mediator component between the pipe body layers and the end fitting. This sealing ring provides an additional sealing interface that compensates for material elastic behavior and ensures reliable sealing under high pressure conditions, directly resolving the contradiction between sealing reliability and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The end fitting structure is segmented into multiple functional components including collar members, sealing rings, and test ports. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally while maintaining overall system reliability, addressing the contradiction by organizing complexity into manageable functional segments.
2Ease of manufacture
If pipe body layers are cut to fit end fittings, then connection is achieved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to non-uniform layer geometry
Solution Approach 1:
A sleeve member is introduced as an intermediary component that bridges the gap between the non-uniform pipe body layers and the end fitting. The sleeve member accommodates variations in layer geometry and provides a uniform interface for connection, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and manufacturing precision.
3Reliability
If sealing integrity is tested under pressure, then sealing quality is verified, but the testing process adds complexity and time
Solution Approach 1:
Test ports are incorporated into the end fitting structure during manufacturing, enabling sealing integrity testing to be performed as a preliminary action before final assembly deployment. This allows quality verification to be built into the assembly process itself rather than adding separate testing steps, resolving the contradiction between reliability assurance and time loss.
4Reliability
If gap filling material is used between pipe layers and end fitting, then connection integrity is improved, but the material may compress under pressure reducing effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeve member serves as an intermediary that eliminates the need for compressible gap filling materials. By providing a rigid structural bridge between the pipe layers and end fitting, the sleeve maintains connection integrity without the strength degradation issues associated with compressible materials under pressure.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4~6
AI summary
A sleeve member, end fitting assembly, and a method of assembly of a flexible pipe are disclosed. The sleeve member includes a body comprising a substantially cylindrical portion having an inner diameter substantially equal to an outside diameter of a first pipe body layer for overlying the first pipe body layer; and a flange portion extending radially outwards from the body for locating between a further pipe body layer and an end fitting, the further pipe body layer being an armour layer, the flange portion having an outer diameter substantially equal to or greater than the outer diameter of the further pipe body layer.