IBP1875_12 TESTING OF ROPES FOR HEAVY DUTY FIBRE ROPE DEPLOYMENT SYSTEMS 1 2 Ivar Bjrnevik , Pl Hellevik , Per Ingeberg3,

Sverre Torben4

Copyright 2012, Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute - IBP

This Technical Paper was prepared for presentation at the Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012, held between September, 1720, 2012, in Rio de Janeiro. This Technical Paper was selected for presentation by the Technical Committee of the event accor ding to the information contained in the final paper submitted by the author(s). The organizers are not supposed to translate or correct the submitted papers. The material as it is presented, does not necessarily represent Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute opinion, or that of its Members or Representatives. Authors consent to the publication of this Technical Paper in the Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012 Proceedings.

Abstract
The oil and gas industry seems to be convinced that it will need lighter material with improved performance compared to steel wires, due to upcoming installation projects of heavy modules in deeper and deeper waters. The latter is driving cranes and wires to larger sizes, e.g wire ropes greater than 128mm dia. The risk of premature failure grows with increased size of the wire, in particular those wires exposed to cyclic bend over sheaves condition from heave compensated handling systems, such as Offshore Cranes. Large size fibre ropes also need to have their performance verified, in order to be considered as an acceptable substitute for wire ropes.A Joint industry Project (JIP) led by RollsRoyce Marine in Norway, was established in 2008/2009 for qualification of large size synthetic fibre ropes up to a diameter of 136mm, typically adequate to be used on a 250Te SWL Fibre Rope Deployment System (FRDS). The largest single test-machine in the world was built during 2009 2010, and is currently still the only test-machine capable of testing ropes up to dia. 136mm in Cyclic-Bend-Over-Sheave (CBOS) performance. The test-machine has 1200 Te pull capacity to perform CBOS testing, Dynamic Break testing (DB) and Straight Pull-Off testing. As part of the JIP, both 88mm and 136mm diameter ropes have been through a comprehensive test-programme. All the ropes have been tested with inserts of thermal sensors, to monitor heat generation and verify how variable temperatures influence ropes service life. All the rope samples have been produced by Puget Sound Ropes (PSR) in Anacortes, Seattle, and samples of worn rope have been delivered by Aker Oilfield Services, being the cut-out segments from the ropes used on the FRDS onboard the Subsea Equipment Support Vessel (SESV) Skandi Santos, operating in Brazil for Petrobras.

1. Introduction
The background for the HD FRDS JIP (Heavy Duty Fiber Rope Deployment System Joint Industry Project) is the need for the industry to investigate and document performance of large sized fiber ropes for deep water installation systems. The DISH JIP (Deepwater Installation of Subsea Hardware Joint Industri Project) has tested ropes up to 80 mm diameter with a breaking load of approximately 400 Te. The same JIP also identified that the industry in question needed installation systems with a lifting capacity of 250 Te at 3000 metre water depth. This typically requires ropes with a MBL (Minimum Breaking Load) of 1200 Te to be tested in a test setup which assesses dominant failure modes for ropes used in deep water installation operations. This includes typically CBOS (Cyclic Bend Over Sheave) tests which is a conservative representation of AHC (Active Heave Compensation) operations required for deep water installation from monohull vessels. A test machine needed for performing CBOS tests of ropes of 1200Te MBL did not exist at that time. Furthermore, the performance of such a test programme requires substantial funding. The needed knowledge from large sized fibre rope performance was considered as pre-competitive, thus a JIP project with a broad spectrum of oil companies and marine contractors could be envisaged. The UK based JIP DISH tried to establish a follow-up project

______________________________ 1 Master Mechanical Engineering - Product Manager - Rolls Royce Marine, DMSS 2 Master Mechanical Engineering - Project Manager - Rolls Royce Marine, DMSS 3 Bachelor Civil Engineering - VP Subsea Technology and BD - Rolls Royce Marine, Offshore 4 Master Automation - R&D Manager - Rolls Royce Marine, DMSS

Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012 under the name FRDS JIP to perform large size rope testing, but did not succeed to raise the necessary funding. The Norwegian company ODIM (now Rolls-Royce) took an initiative to establish a similar project, and with the governmental funding opportunities in Norway, ODIM managed to establish the necessary funding for the project in 2009.

2. Project description
The project was organised as a JIP with a steering group consisting of oil companies, marine contractors and the main contractor for the project, which was responsible for execution of the overall scope of work in cooperation with rope and fibre suppliers: Governmental funding: Norwegian research council / Demo 2000 programme. Oil companies: BP, Shell and Statoil Marine contractors: Heerema, Saipem, Subsea7 and Aker Oilfield Services JIP main contractor: ODIM (Rolls-Royce). Rope/fibre supplier: Cortland Companies, Honeywell and Kuraray The overall scope of the project was to perform dynamic testing of fibre ropes intended for deepwater installation operations of payloads up to 250Te using active heave compensated winches. Two rope sizes were included in the scope: 88 mm rope with an MBL of 562 Te, intended for 125Te SWL winch. 136 mm rope with an MBL of 1125 Te intended for 250Te SWL winch. The test programme was tailored to study how safety factors are reduced through CBOS operations like active heave compensation. This should be done through normal procedure which consist of running CBOS tests for a specified number of cycles, check the residual strength in a straight pull test and then compare this with the strength of a new rope, to see the degradation as function of number of bend cycles. In addition, testing of the actual strength of the rope as it is being cycled and how it degrades as function of the number of bend cycles should also be part of the test programme. These tests are referred to as Dynamic Strength tests. The test scope was extended in 2011, based on a splice failureoccurred during offshore operations on an offshore installation vessel of one of the main installation contractors operating for Petrobras. This scope consisted of analysing the failure mechanism of a splice in CBOS operation, and to develop a new splicing method which would assure more robust margins against slippage. To conduct this programme, a new test machine needed to be made with capacity going far beyond any existing CBOS test machines in the world. This machine should also be available for the industry for more testing after the JIP. The project was kicked off in 2009 and testing was finalised by the end of 2011. The first year of the project was used for design and fabrication of the test machine. Testing was initiated in March 2010 and finalised in December 2011. Final analysis and reporting was performed in the beginning of 2012, in parallel with starting planning of a new test project.

3. Test machine description

Figure 1: 3D model of the test machine 2

Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012 The test machine shown in figure 1 and 2 has a capacity and functionality that is unique in a worldwide perspective. It is 35 m long, 7 m wide and has a pulling capacity of 1200Te. There are two replaceable test sheaves driven by electric motors. This is an unconventional design which makes the control system more complex, but offers the possibility to run CBOS tests both with and without traction. Traction sheaves are commonly used in winch systems for fibre rope. One of the main sheaves is mounted on a wagon driven by two hydraulic cylinders capable of providing 1200 Te of pull capacity. Normally there are two rope samples in a CBOS test set-up. These are interconnected by steel connectors. To capture the rope energy that could potentially be transferred to the rope connectors during a full break, a safety system is integrated in the machine consisting of a hydraulic damping system. Large fibre ropes in CBOS operation normally require cooling to limit the heat build-up in the rope. This is assured by a rope cooling system with water spray on all four bend points. This is comparable with the deluge system commonly used on active heave compensated fibre rope winch systems on offshore vessels.

Figure 2. Picture of the test machine. The main functionality and performance of the machine are: CBOS testing with or without traction at rope tensions up to 600 Te. Dynamic break testing at rope tensions up to 600 Te. Straight Pull Off testing at rope tensions up to 1200 Te and sample lengths up to 26 m. Frictional testing (determination of static and dynamic coefficient of friction between rope and sheaves). Temperature performance testing (including core temperature measurement during CBOS operation). CBOS testing of end-for end splices in endless loop. The machine is located in a Rolls-Royce assembly and test site in Hjrungavg on the west coast of Norway, which provides a controlled environment and offers all necessary facilities such as cranes, fork lifts, safety zones, remote control location for 24/7 operation, video surveillance, data back-up systems etc. The main contractor will provide services on the test machine to the industry after the completion of the JIP on all types of large ropes and cables.

Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012

4. Test scope
The project included the following activities and tests: Designing and building of the test machine for dynamic and static testing of large sized ropes. Static and Dynamic Testing of 88mm rope on 30:1 D:d ratio (sheave diameter vs. rope diameter) o Straight Pull Off (SPO) o Cyclic bend over sheave (CBOS) o Dynamic Break (DB) o End-for end splice testing Static and dynamic testing of 136mm rope on 30:1 D:d ratio. o CBOS o SPO Static and dynamic testing of 136mm rope on 20:1 D:d ratio o CBOS o SPO BOB (Braid-Optimised-for-Bending) from Cortland Companies was the selected rope to be tested in this project. BOB is a rope that has showed good results from previous test project, and is also used on Rolls-Royce FRDS for subsea installation work using the CTCU technology. The large size ropes is designed as a 12x12 construction, and are made of a blend of high performance fibers. The rope sizes chosen for the project was a 88mm rope, which could be used for 125Te single line lifting or 250Te in double fall, and a 136 mm rope which was designed for 250 Te single line lifting. SPO test was done by pulling the rope through eye splices in both rope ends. The new feature in this project was that for cycled rope, the eye splices were the same for CBOS testing and SPO testing. All cycled ropes had the break in one of the bent zones and not in the splice as normally happens when a splice is applied to a cycled rope. CBOS tests were performed by cycling the rope according to predefined wave patterns. Most of the tests were run with regular sine waves, but also wave pattern representing stochastic vessel heave motion data from a relevant vessel was used. All tests were done in single bend mode, i.e. only one bend cycle for each machine cycle, which is most likely for large size ropes and large size sheaves. All tests were performed with water cooling in the bend zone and monitoring of external and internal rope temperature. The DB test is a new test type for large size ropes. The rope is rigged as for CBOS testing and after a predefined number of CBOS cycles the rope tension is increased until break while the rope is still being cycled. End-for-End splices can be tested in the machine due to the large available flexibility in tractor position. The splices are made in the machine to form an endless rope loop that can be run continuously or be cycled in according to a wave pattern.

5. Test results
5.1. Temperature in rope CBOS operation of rope under tension will generate heat in the rope which could potentially result in accelerated rope degradation. Knowledge about the heat build-up is therefore essential for evaluating a rope and its operational limits. During CBOS testing, rope temperature was monitored in one bend zone. External temperature was monitored by IR camera and internal rope temperature by thermocouple inserted in the core of the rope. The internal temperature increase during CBOS testing of 88mm rope was at an acceptable level for a long period of time, but the it increased as a function of number of bends. The CBOS life was found to be at an acceptable level, and it was concluded that the 88mm BOB rope is fit for AHC operations. The 136mm ropes showed a quicker increase in internal temperature, and it was a challenge to cool down the rope centre. Figure 3 shows plots of internal rope temperature measurement for different tests. The curve for test number 4 (T4) with the lowest temperature during the tests come from the 88mm rope test on 30:1 D:d ratio combined with a sine wave. The 136mm rope running on 20:1 4

Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012 D:d ratio sheaves (T15+T16), had a higher temperature during heat up period, compared to the T4 test. The 88mm rope reached a higher number of bend cycles to break compared to the 136mm rope with the same wave pattern, both running on the same sheave diameter. The temperature increase for a 136mm rope during stochastic wave motions test (T13) is higher than the referred 88mm test (T4). The number of bend cycles to break for a 136mm rope is on an acceptable level, as long as the temperature is kept at an acceptable level.

Temperature

Time Figure 3. Plot showing internal heat up during start of test. During the 136 mm rope test T17 the wave data and period are as for Test T15-T16, but the cycling was stopped to cool down the rope when it reached the critical temperature for the rope (see heat-up cycles in figure 4). This test lasted several times longer than the continuous test T15 and T16.

Figure 4. Temperature as function of time for test T17 of 136 mm rope. Comparison between external and internal rope temperature when cooling the bend zone shows a different dependancy of internal and external temperature on wave characteristics. Thus, use of external temperature measurement to estimate the internal temperature is difficult and can only be done based on detailed knowledge about temperature gradients for many operational conditions. 5

Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012

5.2. SPO Performance For the 88mm rope test the reduction in breaking strength is less than what has been experienced in former tests of worn ropes. It is suspected that the reason for this is that former tests have actually been testing the quality of the eye splices being made on worn rope ropes rather than testing the rope itself, as the failure has been in the eye splice and not in the rope itself. In the tests from the HD JIP, the breaks have been in one of the two bend zones in the rope. The HD JIP tests in figure 5 show a low level of reduction of remaining break strength compared with traditional break tests.

Break strength

% of CBOS Life Figure 5. Break strength of 88mm rope as a function of bend cycles. For the 136mm ropes the tendency is that the strength of the eye splice is reduced during CBOS testing, even though the eye splice has only seen a constant tension over time and has been performed on a new rope. It should be noted that this eye splice is a short eye splice (modified eye splice) used for the test machine only. Due to the failure mechanism, a similar approach with normal type eye splice should be performed to investigate potential degradation over time in the end connection for the largest ropes. 5.3. CBOS Performance This chapter focuses on CBOS performance variations due to different input parameters (wave input, temperature in rope, etc.) These tests show that there are a lot of parameters that have an effect on rope performance. The 88mm rope pretty much met the requirements for CBOS performance, even for the toughest test condition it was tested under. After the first test of 88mm rope in R44 U-groove, the rope was measured to be oversized. The rope deformation and wear to fit the R44 groove were found not to be ideal for the rope performance. The same rope size tested in a R68 groove performed much better, also a test of nominal sized rope in R44 groove performed well. The use of oversized grooves also gives room for end-for-end splice handling and seems to be a good solution for rope system design. For the 136mm rope, the test parameters were modified during the execution of the test program to obtain a reasonable CBOS life and to understand the influence of wave spectra parameters. Some interesting observations for the 136 mm rope tests: Keeping the temperature in the centre of the rope below its critical temperature by starting/stopping (or moving the bend point), increased the number of bend cycles to break significantly. It seems to be difficult to reduce the internal rope temperature by spraying the rope surface with water, if the power input to the rope is too large. A combination of low enough power input and good cooling of the surface is needed in order to keep the internal rope temperature at an acceptable level. Cyclic testing with stochastic waves create less heat in the rope centre than similar power input from sine wave tests. Keeping the internal rope temperature below the critical temperature, by running small stochastic waves, increased the number of bend cycles to break considerably compared to running large sinus waves. For large ropes, the test result indicates that it is important to keep the internal temperature below a critical level, to increase the CBOS life for the rope. This can be obtained by using: Short periods of time with heave compensation activated 6

Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012 Weather/heave motion restrictions for large ropes Increased D:d ratios

5.4. DB Performance This JIP tested remaining strength of ropes in a cyclic bend over sheave mode (Dynamic break). Bending over sheave gives an uneven distributed load over a rope cross section. As expected, the break load for a new rope was lower than in SPO. Dynamic break tests were performed at 50%, 67% and 83% of the CBOS life. These tests showed a much faster drop of residual breaking strength than what is observed in a traditional test with SPO test performed after a CBOS test. A test regime looking into the effect of breaking heated rope in SPO or rested/cooled rope in DB would increase the level of understanding even further. This type of testing would give valuable information about to what extent the failure mechanism is heat dependent. 5.5. End-for-end splice performance A splice test was included in the test scope as a result from experience of an end-to-end splice slipping in active heave compensation operation on a FRDS. The slip was recreated in the test machine, and based on the results the experiences were explained. It was concluded that the slip was related to the design of the original splice and its behaviour. A new end-for end splice design was developed during testing. The slip rate of this new type splice was very slow compared with traditional end-for end splices (see figure 6). All end-for-end splices were subjected to load testing at different slip levels to verify residual strength in the splice. The test result for the end-for-end splice indicates that it is safe to use both the traditional end-for-end splices and the new end-for-end splice type during heave and deployment operations. However, both types will need to be monitored carefully on a regular basis during operation.

Figure 6. Slip over end-for end splice as function of number of bends for new splice and original splice. Further work can be done on end-for end splice testing when it comes to practical heave compensation of parts of an end-for-end splice. Cyclic bending of an end-for-end splice should be handled carefully until more knowledge of failure mechanisms for end-for-end splices in bending operation is gained. 5.6. Safety Factor and rope retirement criteria Rope safety factor in winch applications is an issue raised in the industry. Some users want to use fibre sling rules safety factor settings, while DNV is looking into removing the safety factor thinking. 7

Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012 Today the industry often bases its safety factor on a SPO test of a new rope. At a certain level of usage the rope or part of the rope is removed. The break point in tests done with both new and used ropes occurs in the rope eye splice area. This shows that a fresh spliced eye, no matter what the condition of the rope, will normally be the weak point of the test rope. This is an interesting parameter to look into, when it comes to re-splicing an eye in a bended rope. Also, knowledge of the degradation rate gained from the DB tests performed on 88mm rope indicates that todays philosophy might not be suitable as the only parameter to establish a safety factor for the rope. This is especially the case if the safety factor is set low and based on the SPO test only. To be able to set suitable rope retirement criteria, more knowledge of this degradation mechanism needs to established. The most important new parameters to look into may be: D:d ratio impact on rope capacity in dynamic break Dynamic break capacity of cold rope (included time for rope to recover after cycling) SPO test directly after bend over sheave (no time for the rope to recover or cool down)

Rope retirement criteria is a difficult and important matter. The operation offshore must be safe, and a conservative approach needs to be used until the rope degradation mechanisms are fully understood and can be monitored. First of all the value of a competent person must not be underestimated when it comes to rope retirement evaluation. This project has built up a large photo collection that can be of great value in rope retirement evaluations. Rolls Royce has developed a Rope Management System (RMS), to count bends and their positions and weight them based on level of rope tension and D:d ratio. This weighting formula can be updated as knowledge is gained during testing and use.

6. Summary and conclusions

The objective for the HD FRDS JIP was to Establish design criteria for HD FRDS, based upon rope testing including full scale rope tests for a 250Te system. Two potential system solutions have been the basis for the test programme. 1. 136mm BOB rope as a single line 250Te SWL solution. 2. 88mm BOB rope as a 250Te SWL solution using 2-fall lifting line. Both were based on a safety factor against MBL for a new rope of 4.5 vs. SWL. The BOB rope is a rope especially designed for Cyclic Bend Over Sheave (CBOS) operation on a traction based handling system such as the FRDS named CTCU from Rolls-Royce. Tests on 88 mm BOB have shown that the rope is adequate for use on traction based active heave compensated handling systems within certain limits, and have documented important features and performance characteristics of the rope. These include temperature performance in CBOS, frictional capacity and splice performance (both end-for-end and eye splices). Unique knowledge about dynamic strength of the rope during CBOS has also been documented. This provides valuable information with regard to selection of safety factors and retirement criteria. This JIP does not include 2-fall testing, but no results from this JIP indicate that the 88mm BOB rope cannot be used in a multi-fall configuration. Test results for the 136 mm BOB revealed some challenges due to the scaling effect from smaller rope. The main issue is the heat built up in the rope centre during CBOS testing, which results in accelerated rope properties decay in some of the tests. Other tests where the temperature has been kept below critical rope temperature by adjusting the test parameters have shown a relatively high number of bend cycles to failure. This indicates that the 136mm BOB rope should only be used with strict operational limitations in active heave compensated systems. The rope may be adequate for use in system without AHC. Also larger D:d ratios than 30:1 on bending areas may be a way forward for using 136mm BOB rope. Based on the tests above, there is still work to be done to find a rope for a single line 250Te FRDS system with sufficient performance in active heave compensation. A potential new 136mm rope must as a minimum be tested with respect to the following critical parameters for a traction based handling system: CBOS performance Frictional capacity curves (static and dynamic) 8

Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference 2012 Splice performance (End-for-End splices and Eye splices)

For 88mm rope the way forward may be focused on finding the best balance between external and internal friction of the rope to minimise the size of the traction system and maintaining a good CBOS performance.

7. Acknowledgements
Full voting members: BP Exploration Operating Company Limited. Shell Technology Norway AS Statoil ASA Heerema Marine Contractors NL B.V. Saipem S.p.A Subsea 7 Aker Oilfield Services AS Rolls-Royce Marine AS Governmental funding institutions: Demo 2000 / Norwegian Trade Council Innovation Norway / Norwegian Trade Council Associated member / Contractor`s co-operating partner The Cortland Companies