ABSTRACT
In the offshore productions of gas and oil are frequently used flexible pipes. The end fitting is the connection between the flexible pipe body and the production unit, at the assembly of this component is used epoxy resin to fill the free space inside it. This polymeric material holds the tensile armor wires to form the anchoring system. A critical point in the oil industry advance, beyond the technological frontier of offshore oil extraction, is the structural performance of the end fittings. In this critical component, the epoxy material must have the appropriate characteristics that allow resist the mechanical solicitations. This paper presents a characterization of five epoxy materials with the intention to determine their ability to be applied at end fittings. Pull out tests, compression tests, shear testes and measurement of hardness, were made to value the performance of those materials for this application. The performance of the five resins was compared through a TOPSIS analysis, this technique criteria are valued by their similarity to ideal solution and the influence of each parameter or property is weighted according to their importance in the system of anchoring.
Resins tested showed similar hardness values, however, the values of compressive stress at yield and compressive stress at break, and the maximum shear stress showed 30% greater differences. Furthermore, the results of pull out tests demonstrated significant differences for the calculated parameters. Finally, the resin more suitable for application on end fittings was selected by analyzing TOPSIS.
Keywords
Epoxy; Pull out Test; End Fitting; Flexible Pipe
