Lateral movement of lifting strings connected by screwed joints and spherical joints in deep sea by finite element analysis and virtual prototype technology

To study the lateral movement of pipe strings connected by screwed joints and spherical joints in deep sea, this paper built the models of the pipe strings and made comparison of their horizontal displacements. Under the four-level oceanic condition, the transiently dynamic and kinetic analyses of the pipe strings were carried out by finite element method and virtual prototype technology. The results show that the maximum lateral displacement of pipe strings connected by screwed joints is 2.1 m, and the maximum moment in this system is 8 400 N· m. While the maximum lateral displacement of pipe strings connected by spherical joints is 6.0 m, the moment in this system is zero, and the pipe strings can be considered as flexible pipes which can bear large axial force. Since the lateral movement of buffer periodically changes with time and its period is much longer than that of the waves, materials with better wearability are more suitable for spherical joint-connected pipe strings.