Multiphase forces on bend structures
conference paper
Piping structures are generally subjected to high dynamic loading due to multiphase forces. In particular subsea structures are very vulnerable as large flexibility is required to cope for instance with thermal stresses. The forces due to multiphase flow are characterized by a broadband spectrum with high amplitudes. These forces differ with flow regimes and are still difficult to predict. Therefore a joint industry project was setup to perform both large scale (6”) flow tests and to qualify CFD procedures and settings to calculate these forces with sufficient accuracy. A 1.5D radius bend was fully equipped with force rings (2*8), piezo strain gauges, classic strain gauges, dynamic pressure sensors (11) and both upstream and downstream a resistance tomography and transparent section. Both single phase (gas and liquid) as well as multiphase conditions were measured with maximum gas velocities up to 40 m/s and liquid velocities up to 4 m/s. In this paper, results are presented of the correlation between the hold-up variations and measured forces. Main conclusion is that for both slug and annular flow the force on a bend induced by multiphase flow is dominated by the hold-up fluctuations at the bend.
TNO Identifier
549951
Publisher
TNO
Source title
ICMF-2016, 9th International Conference on Multiphase Flow, 22–27 May 2016, Firenze, Italy
Files
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