Subsea Anchoring Assembly Guide Device Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Subsea production buoys and structures are susceptible to tidal flows and underwater currents, causing repeated movement that weakens the links between anchoring components, leading to instability and potential failure in existing anchoring systems.
Innovation Solution
A subsea anchoring assembly featuring a socket with a guide device comprising splayed arms and a landing enclosure, which directs the locking head into alignment, combined with a ramp and locking mechanism to secure the mooring line, allowing for axial alignment and prevention of lateral movement, thereby enhancing stability and reducing fatigue.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a simple socket without guide device is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the locking head cannot be properly aligned with the socket under repeated tidal flow movements
Solution Approach 1:
The guide device (splayed arms and landing enclosure) is pre-configured on the socket to automatically guide and align the locking head into the correct position before engagement. This preliminary guiding action ensures proper alignment occurs automatically during the anchoring process, eliminating the need for complex manual alignment procedures while maintaining structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide device acts as an intermediary element between the socket and the locking head. The splayed arms and landing enclosure provide a transitional guiding structure that facilitates the alignment process, mediating the interaction between the two components to ensure proper engagement without requiring either component to be overly complex.
2Stability of the object's composition
If rigid constraints are used to prevent lateral movement, then the stability is improved, but the repeated tidal flow movements cause fatigue and failure
Solution Approach 1:
The anchoring system transitions from rigid fixed constraints to dynamic constraints that allow controlled movement. The guide device and locking mechanism work together to provide stability while accommodating the dynamic nature of tidal flow movements, allowing the connection to flex and adapt to environmental forces without failing from fatigue.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of constraint from completely rigid (zero movement) to controlled flexibility (allowing limited lateral movement within the landing enclosure). This parameter change enables the connection to maintain stability while absorbing the energy of tidal flows, preventing fatigue failure by allowing controlled motion rather than resisting all movement rigidly.
3Ease of manufacture
If the locking head is directly engaged with the socket without guidance, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the locking head cannot be securely locked under tension
Solution Approach 1:
The guide device performs the preliminary action of aligning and positioning the locking head correctly before the final locking engagement occurs. This pre-positioning ensures that when the locking head engages with the socket under tension, it is already in the correct orientation and position, guaranteeing secure locking without requiring complex manufacturing tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide device serves as an intermediary that facilitates the engagement process between the locking head and socket. It provides a controlled path and positioning mechanism that ensures reliable locking under tension while maintaining simple, manufacturable components. The guide structure meditates the engagement process to achieve both ease of manufacture and locking reliability.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3C
AI summary
A subsea anchoring assembly, comprises an anchor (103), a locking head (11) for connection of a mooring line (10) to the anchor (103), and a socket (121) provided on the anchor (103). The socket (121) has a seat to receive and seat the locking head (11) within the socket (121). The socket (121) has a neck provided with a guide device to direct the locking head (11) into alignment with the socket (121). The locking head (11) and the socket (121) can move between a first configuration in which the locking head (11) and the socket (121) are separate, and a second configuration in which the locking head (11) and the socket (121) are locked together. The guide device comprises a pair of splayed arms (123a, 123b) and a landing enclosure (124) with a substantially continuous boundary extending from one side of the neck to the other. The outer ends of the splayed arms (123a, 123b) extend so that they connect to one another to form the boundary. An associated anchoring method is also described.