Dynamic bend stiffeners are used to support flexible pipe, umbilicals and cables when connected to rigid structures or a floating production system where there is a requirement to control the minimum bend radius.

With considerable misinformation and misunderstanding over bend stiffeners in the marketplace we thought it would be beneficial to publish a factual, research-based paper on Balmoral’s bend stiffener design methodologies.

Our bend stiffeners are accredited by Bureau Veritas to API 17L standards and designed to suit operational criteria including fluid temperature variance, flowline, umbilical/cable stiffness and minimum bend radius parameters.

Fatigue assessment testing of bend stiffeners considers both steelwork and polyurethane components calculating the cumulative damage and corresponding fatigue lives of each.

All testing was performed on geometry-specific specimens in seawater considering the effects of hydrolysis over time at regulated temperatures.

Balmoral has worked with a market-leading marine antifouling paint supplier to develop Balmoral CopperClad; a complete coating and application system specifically designed to achieve outstanding bonding performance between polyethylene or polyurethane substrates and a market-leading ‘slow biocide release’ antifouling coating system.

The antifouling coating is one of the Jotun SeaQuantum range, and which is based upon a silyl-acrylate binder which exhibits continuous slow solution and slow hydrolysis in seawater. This dissolution and hydrolysis of the binder continually renews the surface concentration of the biocide system and gradually releases biocide components into the surface/water interface to ensure continuous protection of the coated structure.

The unique aspects of the Balmoral CopperClad system are a proprietary multistage procedure used to prepare and activate the polymer surface, and the selection of primer/binder system.