Analysis of the mechanical properties of a fibreglass reinforced flexible pipe (FGRFP)

Abstract

Fibreglass reinforced flexible pipe (FGRFP) is a kind of composite thermoplastic pipe serving as a preferred application in the field of oil transportation. This paper studies the mechanical behaviour of FGRFPs under pure bending by experimental, numerical and theoretical methods. Full-scale four-point bending tests are conducted and the curvature-bending moment relations of specimens are recorded. In the numerical simulation method (NSM), a detailed finite element model considering both material and geometric nonlinear behaviour is established, and the composite is defined as an orthotropic elastic-plastic material. Based on the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, a simplified theoretical method (STM) is proposed to predict the ultimate bending moment. In the parametric study, a simple formula is introduced to modify STM to make it more accurate. Good agreements proves the reasonability of the proposed NSM and STM. Additionally, STM could make a contribution to engineers in terms of a concise and relatively accurate way in ultimate status analysis.