Reducing Workplace Accidents

The Two Main Ways Computational Modeling Can Improve The Design Of Subsea Valves

20 January 2016 by Enzo Vincent

As a subsea valve manufacturer, you understand the crucial role valve components play in ensuring the integrity of pipelines and other conduits carrying hydrocarbons. However, you may not be aware of how computational modeling methodologies can help increase the efficiency of your company's design process. If you are unfamiliar with the application of computational modeling techniques – such as Finite Element Analysis or Computational Fluid Dynamics – you may be missing out on the opportunity to streamline your design process and increase the cost-effectiveness of your products. There are two main reasons for this:

It is More Cost-effective than Model Testing

Before the widespread use of computational modeling, the only way a valve component could be tested was through the physical testing of scale models. This involved building a prototype valve and running a number of load tests that would determine the behaviour of the component under operational loading.

However, whilst this approach is still used, it is grossly inefficient and can cost a significant amount of money during the design phase. Model testing requires accurate replicas of the valve to be constructed and run through a full load-case matrix. Not only does this result in high material costs, but the costs for running the tests can quickly escalate due to the complex nature of valve loading.

Computational modeling offers valve manufacturers the ability to run these tests in a virtual engineering environment, which completely removes the cost of building and testing scale prototypes. With computational modeling, engineers can assess valves under a number of loading scenarios:

• Static – applying static loads (such as bolt pretension) to a valve.
• Dynamic – assessing impact loading on a component.
• Fatigue – calculating the expected life of a valve under cyclic loading.
• Thermal – determining the transfer of heat through a valve and the resultant stresses.

Computational modeling, if used correctly, can significantly reduce a manufacturer's costs during the design phase. This is particularly true if a valve has to be tested until failure, as computational modeling allows the same design to be tested under a wide number of load cases and doesn't require the construction of a separate model for each test.

It Speeds Up the Design Process

One of the main challenges valve designers have is ensuring that their design is optimal in both cost and performance. To ensure that a valve design is optimal for its anticipated purpose, it is necessary to investigate a wide number of parameters that can greatly influence the behaviour of a subsea valve. As such, the design process typically involves optimizing the following parameters:

• Material properties - strength, stiffness, stability.
• Geometric details – valve body diameter, bonnet height, gasket size.
• Mechanical properties – bending, axial and torsional response.
• Thermal properties – expansion and heat transfer.

To optimize each of the above without the aid of computational modeling, rigorous calculations would be required in addition to a wide range of model tests that quantify the influence of each parameter. This requires a great deal of work from design engineers and limits would have to be in place regarding the scope of any optimization process. As such, it would take a great deal of time and effort to optimize the design of a subsea valve component, which may render the process grossly inefficient for manufacturers.

Computational modeling allows each design parameter to be investigated in turn and the results quantified. Slight changes can be made to each design parameter and the valve can be tested under the same load-case conditions. This gives engineers a much more comprehensive knowledge about the behaviour of valves and, as such, they are able to optimize their designs for a range of conditions. Over time, due to the time savings gained from computational modeling, the design process for subsea valves will become more streamlined as engineers will be able to draw from a much deeper pool of knowledge. For more information about maintenance and testing, contact a company like Sylvan Lake Advantage Valve Maintenance Ltd.

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