| Technip publishes research work conducted
using OMC Laser Profiler
19th December 2003 Technip have recently published the results of their pioneering work to assess geometric variations in the pipe reeling process. Pipes are welded together on land and reeled onto ship-mounted drums that are unreeled into the sea.
When the pipe undergoes reeling and unreeling the pipe ovalises beyond the nominal shape produced by the steel mill. The welded joint also complicates the mechanics. To understand the process better studies were conducted by simulating the reeling and unreeling operation. The OMC 15/50 Laser Profiler was used to collect profiles at regular distances along various pipe being tested and enabled the validation of finite element modeling. The tool represents a significant improvement over manual methods that are difficult and time consuming to use and that collect a fraction of the measurements available in a few seconds using the OMC instrument. The profiler was also used to assess the characteristics of a large sample of project line pipe as typically delivered to the spool base facility.
Deep Offshore Technology Conference paper 19-21st November 2003, Marseille, France. (472KB PDF)
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