Effective fatigue assessment of deep and ultradeepwater dynamic umbilicals is essential given the critical importance of these systems, yet while predicting fatigue damage by applying non-linear time domain methods and data is well advanced for riser systems, similar approaches for steel tube umbilicals are still being developed. OE talks to Mark Dixon of consultants DeepSea Engineering & Management about the advanced modelling techniques the company has developed to overcome this. As one of the most structurally complex components of subsea hitecture, umbilicals present significant deepwater design challenges. Given their complexity, housing multiple components including power and data cables, hydraulic fluid and chemical injection steel tubes, thermoplastic hoses and communication lines, reliability is a vital issue, and fatigue prediction is a key element within this.
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