ABSTRACT
Subsea pipelines are subject to internal and external pressures arising from the depth of operation. To ensure adequate flow of transported fluid, many subsea pipelines operate at temperatures above ambient. The coupling of internal pressure and temperature is studied here. The critical load of instability is evaluated according to the increase in internal operating pressure and the external pressure due to the depth of operation. For this operational scenario, integrity and damage levels are allowed, allowing the use or behavior at different integrity levels, assisting in the management of this important asset. The analysis are performed using the finite element method include the geometric and material nonlinearities. Therefore, finite element simulations are developed, allowing to evaluate the influence of temperature on the critical instability loads.
