Offshore wind farm pipe cable bend restrictor is a device specially designed to protect submarine cables from excessive bending damage. The working principle is to control the minimum bending radius (MBR) of the pipeline cable to prevent excessive bending of the cable, thereby protecting the pipeline cable.
The Type of Bend Restrictor
The Type of bend restrictor can be divided into ductile iron and polyurethane according to the material.
• Ductile iron restrictor occupies a certain market due to the advantages of low cost and excellent mechanics, but thanks to the high metal density, its own weight will increase the weight of pipeline cables. Long-term use of metal will be corroded by seawater, the performance will be reduced. Later maintenance costs are also higher.
• Polyurethane bend limiter has excellent corrosion and wear resistance. Because its density is 1.79g/cm³,closing to the density of sea water, which will not increase the additional load on the pipeline cable. From the perspective of long-term economic benefits and offshore wind farm pipeline maintenance, it also occupies a certain market.
Bend Restrictor Application Field
• Submarine cable landing section: On a beach or sea wall, especially in shallow water near the shore, bend limiter is used to protect the submarine cable from damage during landing.
• Crossover section: When the submarine cable needs to be crossed with other submarine structures (such as natural gas pipelines, optical cables, or other cables), bend limiter is used to protect the submarine cable from excessive bending at the crossover point.
• Submarine cable bends: Bend restrictor helps maintain the recommended bend radius and avoid stress concentration in any turn or bend area in the submarine cable path.
The largest number of insurance claims in offshore wind power are caused by cable accidents, so it is extremely important to protect offshore wind farm pipeline cables with bend limiter.
If you have more questions about bending limiter, please contact Philson and we will answer them for you!
