Thu, 04 June, 2020
Staff from TWI South East Asia were called upon to carry out a fitness for service assessment of a subsea pipeline.
The 14 inch crude oil subsea pipeline was found to have a dent in a spanning region. The dent was located following magnetic flux leakage (MFL) in-line inspection (ILI) and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey results.
The dent raised concerns over a potential failure of the pipe and led to a fitness for service investigation in accordance to API 579 level 3 and DNV RP-F-105.
A finite element approach was taken to simulate the development of the dent and determine the resulting strain. These investigations determined that the pipeline was unfit for service unless the dent could be repaired.
You can find out more about this work, including the methodology used and the results of the assessment here.