ARTICU-JOINT
ARTICU-JOINT
ARTICU-JOINT
003

ARTICU-JOINT™ is a steel catenary riser hang-off component which trades rotational movement of pipe above the hang-off point for a simplified and robust SCR weight bearing articulation.

The principal of ARTICU-JOINT is that of the ball-joint.  Other SCR hang-off components combine curvature control/management and load bearing into one product, giving a static connection point to the host vessel above the hang-off joint.

With ARTICU-JOINT the movements of the SCR are transposed above the joint therefore requiring a bending component such as a flexible or titanium jumper to accommodate this motion. ARTICU-JOINT separates these forces, isolating tension and bending such that the jumper may be optimized for (relatively) shallow water, high fatigue application. This trade off is used to give a robust, simple load path with a continuous bore for fluid flow and the fatigue motions transferred to a jumper spool that can be easily inspected, monitored and replaced if necessary.

ARTICU-JOINT uses SRP’s SLIDE-MAX™ proprietary bearing technology to provide maintenance free life of field operation. The use of such marine bearings in subsea systems is not new but, till now, has been based on un-representative test data. SRP have worked to develop a bespoke bearing which has been tested with representative loads, environment and angular travel to achieve superb wear and fatigue performance.

Technical Advantages

  • Minimal transfer of bending to the host structure
  • Constant stiffness with angle, no stiffening effects at small angles.
  • Very low stiffness at standard maximum angle of +/-20°
  • Tension capacity of 400Te and beyond
  • Bending (and fatigue) is managed in a jumper that takes minimal load
  • Continuous thru bore that can be easily clad for sour service
  • Jumper options include flexible pipe, steel, titanium and composite pipe
  • Torsional lock to protect from interfacing components in high yaw conditions

Commercial Advantages

  • Improved component cost
  • Simple replacement of wear components
  • Jumper can be designed for field life or planned replacement 
  • “Standard” (flex-joint type) hang-off assembly for replaceability
  • Easy and cheap to clad for sour applications

Installability

The SCR would be either reel-laid or J-laid in the usual way and the load-bearing spool fabricated into it at the host vessel end.  The high strength ARTICU-JOINT would be mechanically locked in place supported on a load shoulder and an A&R or crane wire would be attached to the connection hub/flange at the end of the load spool.  The installation vessel would simply place the ARTICU-JOINT into a “standard” conical hang-off bucket.