On March 3rd, Prof. Andreas T. Echtermeyer, Professor for composites and polymers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), will deliver a talk as part of the SASCOM Seminar Series titled “Composites Offshore in Harsh Environments.”

Composites are being used or are considered for being used in offshore structures such as pipes, pressure vessels and several other components. Applications are mostly related to exploration, transport or storage of traditional hydrocarbons as well as hydrogen and CO2. One reason stated for using composites are their good long-term properties (no corrosion) in harsh environments, such as oil, gas, water, extreme temperatures and mechanical loads. In safety critical applications stating good properties is not sufficient. It has to be shown that the composite component has acceptable properties at the end of its design life, typically 25 to 50 years after being put into service.

A general approach to show how properties change over the lifetime will be presented. Chemical and physical aging will be discussed and the need to accelerate and extrapolate test results. All this needs to be combined with mechanical exposure, short-term, cyclic and static fatigue. Each combination of materials and environments requires specific evaluations. This presentation will concentrate on the general aspects as proposed for the new Recommended Practice DNV-RP-B302. Some experimental test results from research projects will be shown to illustrate specific aspects of the approach.

To attend this insightful talk, please register for the Zoom session on the SASCOM website.