Cooling and Hardening during Injection Molding of Field Joint Coatings for Deep Sea Pipelines

L. Van Lokeren [1], R. Verhelle [1], S. Loulidi [1], H. Boyd [2], G. Ridolfi [2], G. Van Assche [1]
[1] Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
[2] Heerema Marine Contractors, Leiden, The Netherlands
Publié en 2015

A multilayer polymer coating is applied to carbon steel pipelines installed in the sea to protect against corrosion and to insulate to maintain the temperature. For field joint coatings, both thermosets (like polyurethane) and semi-crystalline thermoplastics (like polypropylene) are commonly used.

To predict the temperature and crystallinity or conversion of the polymer during the cooling and hardening of the field joint coating in the injection molding application process, a 2D axisymmetric model was developed. In a next step not only heat transfer and crystallization or cure were taken into account, but also thermal and crystallization/cure shrinkage and the resulting interfacial thermal stresses were implemented.