DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF AN APPARATUS TO PERFORM TENSILE TESTS AT LOW TEMPERATURES IN MOORING ROPES

F. M. Clain, O. C. Nogueira

Abstract

Mooring ropes used in offshore oil platforms are exposed to a set of environmental conditions that can be crucial to their behavior in service. When one is talking of synthetic fiber ropes, such as Nylon, PET or HMPE, for instance, of all these peculiar conditions, the water temperature at the seabed can be pointed out as the one that affects the ropes mechanical response the most. For this specific reason, sometimes there can be a significant discrepancy between data collected at room temperature during tensile test in these components and their actual behavior in service. Seeking to acquire more accurate data during tensile tests and, consequently, better simulate mooring ropes behavior in service, the aim of this paper is to design and construct an apparatus to be attached to an existing 300 ton tensile/fatigue testing machine of ropes and sub-ropes in order to allow the application of different water temperatures to the samples. As boundary conditions for this project, the device shall be capable of admitting both ropes and sub-ropes types of samples and it also has to be thermally efficient. Mechanical, structural and thermal projects will be detailed, as well as the specification of a commercial chiller capable of maintaining the water at steady temperature throughout an entire test.h projects, to discuss due questions and problems and to promote the co-operation between individuals as well as between institutions. Therefore in the symposium discussions will play a highly significant role.

Keywords

synthetic mooring ropes, tensile test, low temperature

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IMEKO TC

TC15 - Experimental Mechanics

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