The design of bend stiffeners for offshore flexible riser systems

• Main Author: Goh, Johan Zhuo Han.
• Other Authors: Low Ying Min
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Civil engineering::Water resources
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/38940
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With the advancement in technology and the increasing demand for fuel, the oil and gas industry are venturing into deeper waters in search of new resources. The flexible riser system is an integral part of offshore structures and is used to transport oil, gas, power and water. The flexible riser systems have to withstand hostile conditions in the deep sea and bend stiffeners are essential to protect these systems. Bend stiffeners are fitted to the end connections to limit the curvature of the flexible riser and prevent over bending and accumulation of fatigue stress. The purpose of this project is to implement MATLAB® codes to calculate large deflections and aid in the design of bend stiffeners. It considers the bend stiffener as a cantilever beam in order to obtain the results due to large deflection. The project is executed in two phases; the first phase considers the cantilever beam to be of uniform thickness and made of linear material. The second phase considers the geometrical and material non-linearities. The MATLAB® codes are implemented based on Microsoft® Office Excel spreadsheets prepared by Project Officer, Mr. Tong Dongjin. The MATLAB® codes results are then tested against the results obtained by the Microsoft® Office Excel spreadsheets. After the MATLAB® codes are determined to be correct and functional, different scenarios and configurations were investigated. The optimum number of iterations and elements were investigated in order to achieve an accurate maximum curvature and tip deflection. With these findings, the MATLAB® codes are further improved to have a higher accuracy and efficiency. The MATLAB® codes are more versatile than the Microsoft® Office Excel spreadsheets but it can be tested against other software or practical experiments in order to better determine their accuracies in a wider range of scenarios and configurations. The MATLAB® codes can be further manipulated to apply in more areas and further aid the design of bend stiffeners.