LONG FIBER REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITES IN OFFSHORE DRILLING APPLICATION

摘要

Long fiber reinforced thermoplastic (LFT) composites possess excellent specific strength and modulus and superior impact resistance. They are being widely used in various conventional applications such as automotive and transportation. This work focuses on the evaluation of LFT composite materials under harsh environment and development of a component using LFT composite material for an unconventional application, offshore gas and oil drilling application. LFT composite materials are assessed on their mechanical performance in tension, flexure and impact before and after being conditioned at high pressure and elevated temperature. A stop collar used for stabilizing buoyancy modules on a drill pipe is designed and developed. Prototypes of the stop collar are successfully produced using extrusion and compression molding process and their performance are validated in a practical offshore drilling operation.