Abstract:
A fixing end-fitting for a flexible tubular pipe, the pipe comprising an inner sealing sheath, a pressure vault comprising a short-pitch helical winding of a metal forming wire, an intermediate sheath and at least a web of tensile long-pitch wound armour wires and an outer sealing sheath. The end-fitting comprises a stepped part capable of sliding into a stepped cylindrical housing of the end-fitting. Two crimping elements sealingly fix the inner sheath and the intermediate sheath. Screws enable the stepped part to be brought closer to and be fixed on the end-fitting. The stepped part and the deformable elements constitute three separate elements, thereby facilitating mounting and providing a better control of tightness.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to an end-fitting for a flexible pipe for transporting, over long distances, a fluid which is under pressure and possibly at a high temperature, such as a gas, oil, water or other fluids. The invention relates most particularly to an end-fitting for a pipe intended for offshore oil operations. 
   The flexible pipes used offshore must be able to resist high internal pressures and/or external pressures and also withstand longitudinal bending or twisting without the risk of being ruptured. 
   They have various configurations depending on their precise use but in general they satisfy the constructional criteria defined in particular in the recommendations API 17 B and API 17 J drawn up by the American Petroleum Institute under the title “Recommended Practice for Flexible Pipe” and “Specification for Unbonded Flexible Pipe”. 
   A flexible pipe generally comprises, from the inside outwards: 
   an internal sealing sheath made of a plastic, generally a polymer, resistant to the chemical action of the fluid to be transported; 
   a pressure vault resistant mainly to the pressure developed by the fluid in the sealing sheath and consisting of the winding of one or more interlocked metal profile wires (which may or may not be self-interlockable) wound in a helix with a short pitch (that is to say with a winding angle close to 90°) around the internal sheath; the profile wires have a cross section in the form of a Z or a T, or derivatives (teta or zeta) thereof, or a U or an I; 
   at least one ply (and generally at least two crossed plies) of tensile armor wires wound with a long pitch, that is to say one whose lay angle measured with respect to the longitudinal axis of the pipe is less than 55°; and 
   an external protective sealing sheath made of a polymer. 
   Such a pipe, with a smooth internal bore, since it formed by the sealing sheath, is called a smooth bore. 
   In a pipe called a rough bore, a carcass consisting of an interlocked metal strip is also provided inside the internal sealing sheath, said carcass serving to prevent the pipe collapsing under external pressure. The pressure vault also contributes, however, to the crush strength. 
   Pipes may also include an intermediate or anti-collapse sheath placed between the pressure vault and the first armor ply or between two armor plies so as, should the external sheath be punctured, to prevent seawater from infiltrating as far as the internal sheath and impairing the mechanical performance of the flexible pipe. 
   The pipe end-fittings, also defined in the API 17J recommendations, must be produced under conditions ensuring both good fixing and good sealing. In general, these are achieved by crimping of the sheath, that is to say by partial radial penetration of a rigid element into the sheath. 
   Several types of end-fittings for flexible pipes using the internal sheath crimping principle are known. For example, document WO 99/19654 shows an annulus encircling the internal sheath, this annulus having either two O-ring seals or two ribs for sealing. In document U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,128, which relates to a rough bore pipe, a tubular sleeve is inserted between the carcass and the internal sheath so as to bear radially on the sheath during crimping, and the sheath is crimped by a deformable crimping ring which, when it is pushed axially, cooperates with a frustoconical stop, deforms radially inward and penetrates the sheath so as to lock it and seal it. Such a ring is also called a monocone. However, these documents do not relate to pipes provided with an intermediate sheath that also has to be crimped to seal it. 
   The Applicant has already developed an end-fitting for crimping the internal sheath and for crimping the intermediate sheath. The end-fitting includes a stepped part that can slide in a stepped cylindrical housing of the end-fitting, this part forming a bicone, that is to say having, at its two axial ends, an integral crimping ring (or lip); the bicone ensures, under axial compression causing the rings to deform, that the internal sheath is fixed and sealed at the front by cooperation with a tapered sleeve and that the intermediate sheath is fixed and sealed at the rear by cooperation with the pressure vault of the pipe, bolts providing said axial compression and allowing the stepped part to be brought up to the end-fitting and fixed thereto. 
   This construction is generally satisfactory, but it turns out in use that the manufacture is not simple, since many very precise contact adjustments have to be made on the stepped part, the mounting of which is not simple, especially if one considers that the pipe and end-fitting are of large diameter (for example forty centimeters or so) and heavy, that the constructional imperfections may make it difficult or impossible to adjust the stepped part and, above all, that it is very difficult to carry out a sealing test on the two sleeve crimpings. However, for safety reasons, such a prior test is being requested more and more frequently by users. 
   The objective of the invention is therefore to improve the existing end-fitting, by providing a construction which makes it possible, on the one hand, for it to be mounted for easily and, on the other hand, for sealing tests to be carried out. 
   The invention achieves its objective by means of a fixing end-fitting for a flexible tubular pipe, comprising as a minimum, from the inside outward, an internal sealing sheath made of a plastic, generally a polymer, a pressure vault formed by a short-pitch helical winding of a metal profile wire, an intermediate sealing sheath, at least one tensile armor ply wound with a long pitch and at least one external protective sealing sheath. The housing of the one end-fitting including a stepped part that can slide in a stepped cylindrical housing of the end-fitting and is designed to ensure, through two deformable crimping elements, that the internal sheath is fixed and sealed at the front (by cooperation with a bearing element, such as a tapered sleeve in the case of smooth-bore pipes or the carcass itself in the case of rough-bore pipes) and that the intermediate sheath is fixed and sealed at the rear. Bolts allow the stepped part to be brought up to the end-fitting and fixed thereto. The stepped part and the deformable elements are produced in the form of separate parts, namely the stepped part and two separate crimping rings. Not only is their assembly facilitated thereby, but above all it is possible to fit means for checking the sealing during assembly. 
   Advantageously, the rear deformable element is clamped to the intermediate sheath by a flange on the stepped part being clamped by means of bolts, these bolts being different from the bolts for clamping the stepped part to the end-fitting, and allowing the intermediate sheath to be crimped at the rear before the internal sheath is crimped at the front. 
   Advantageously, the rear deformable ring forms part of a bicone possessing, at the front, another deformable ring intended also to sink into the intermediate sheath. The bicone has a radial orifice for testing the sealing between the two deformable rings of the bicone. Preferably, an O-ring seal is also provided between the flange and the stepped part in order to prevent leaks during the sealing test. By virtue of these arrangements, it is easy to first crimp the intermediate sheath and check for leaks, before going on to crimp the internal sheath. 
   Advantageously, two O-ring seals are also provided between the stepped part and the end-fitting, and a radial orifice is provided for checking the sealing between these seals. One of these seals serving as a stop seal, for reducing any leaks that might appear between the stepped part and the vault of the end-fitting. The other seal serves merely for the sealing test procedure, so as to check the sealing of the stop seal. 
   The invention applies whenever an internal sheath and an intermediate sheath are to be crimped, and it relates to smooth-bore pipes and rough-bore pipes. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Other advantages and features will become apparent on reading the description that follows, with reference to the appended schematic drawings in which: 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  are perspective views of a smooth-bore pipe and a rough-bore pipe, respectively, to which the invention may apply; 
       FIG. 3  is a longitudinal sectional view of an end-fitting already developed by the Applicant; and 
       FIGS. 4 and 5  are longitudinal sectional view s of an end-fitting according to the invention, at an intermediate stage of assembly and at the final stage, respectively. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The smooth-bore pipe  10  of  FIG. 1  comprises, from the inside outward, a polymeric internal sealing sheath  2 , a metal vault  3 , consisting of the short-pitch helical winding of at least one metal profile wire (for example a self-interlocked zeta wire), if necessary a hoop reinforcement  4 , formed by a short-pitch winding of rectangular wire, an anti-collapse intermediate sheath  5 , armor  6  resistant to the axial tension in the longitudinal direction of the pipe and consisting of a pair of crossed armor piles, wound with a long pitch in opposite directions, and a polymeric external sealing sheath  7 . 
   The rough-bore pipe  10 ′ in  FIG. 2  comprises, from the inside outward, an interlocked-strip carcass  1 , a polymeric internal sealing sheath  2 , a metal vault  3 , formed by a short-pitch helical winding of at least one metal profile wire (for example a self-interlocked zeta wire), if necessary a hoop reinforcement  4 , formed by a short-pitch winding of rectangular wire, first armor  6  resistant to axial tension in the longitudinal direction of the pipe and consisting of a pair of crossed armor plies, wound with a long pitch in opposite directions, an anti-collapse intermediate sheath  5 , second armor  6 ′, also consisting of a pair of crossed armor plies wound with a long pitch in opposite directions, and a polymeric external sealing sheath  7 . 
     FIG. 3  shows the arrangement of an end-fitting  11  already developed by the Applicant, the end-fitting being represented only by its rear annular part or vault, having a stepped cylindrical inner wall on which a stepped bicone part  12  can slide and bear. This bicone  12  has, at the front, a tapered crimping lip  13  capable of sliding on a conical bearing surface  13   a  of the end-fitting  11 , when said lip is subjected to an axial thrust, in order to form an annular inward protrusion that bites into the internal sheath  2  clamped between the vault of the end-fitting  11  and a front sleeve  14  tapered toward the rear. A stop ring  15  is interposed between the sheath  2  and the bicone  12  and is used as bearing for the vault  3  of the pipe. At the rear of the bicone  12 , a tapered crimping lip  16  can slide on a conical bearing surface  16   a  of a part linked to the end-fitting  11  (the flange  18 ), when the latter is subjected to an axial thrust, in order to form an annular inward protrusion  16   b  that bites into the intermediate sheath  5 . A stop ring  17  locks the hoop reinforcement  4  against the bicone  12 . An annular flange  18 , having an annular skirt  19  that cooperates with the lip  16 , is fixed to the end-fitting  11  by bolts  20 . Clamping the flange  18  by the bolts  20  results both in the crimping of the front lip  13  into the internal sheath and that of the rear lip  16  into the intermediate sheath. 
   Clamps  21  lock the armor plies  6  in position and a rear sleeve  22  is inserted between the external sheath  7  and the armor plies  6 . A cylindrical cover  23  is screwed onto the end-fitting  11  via a thread  24 . A ring-shaped sealing monocone  25  is pushed axially by the annular skirt  26  of a flange  27  which is bolted onto the cover  23  by bolts  28 , and slides over the conical stop  25   a  in order to form a radial protrusion  25   b  that bites into the external sheath  7 . 
   The cover includes one or more orifices, normally closed by a plug  30 , these orifices being used to inject a resin (for example Araldite®) into the end-fitting. 
   The invention will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5  in which elements identical to those of the previous figures bear the same reference numbers. 
   The stepped bicone  12  is replaced with a stepped part  112  capable of sliding against the cylindrical wall  140  of the end-fitting  11  and of being immobilized against an internal shoulder. The part  112  includes, at the front, a cylindrical skirt portion  141  which can push, axially, a crimping adapter or ring or monocone  113  surrounding the internal sheath  2 . The monocone  113  cooperates via a conical surface with a conical (possibly convex) stop surface  113   a . At the rear, the part  112  includes a flange  142  onto which may be fixed, by bolts  151 , a flange  118  whose skirt  119  cooperates with the rear lip  116  of a bicone  143  having a lip  144  at the front. The bicone  143  has a radial orifice  145  that communicates with a radial orifice  146  made in the flange  142  and can be closed by a plug. 
   An O-ring seal  147  prevents leaks between the skirt  119  of the flange  118  and the internal cylindrical wall of the flange  142  of the stepped part  112 . Two O-ring seals  148 ,  148 ′ are placed between the cylindrical central portion  149  of the stepped part  112  and the wall  140  of the end-fitting  11 . A radial orifice  150  that can be closed off by a plug is provided in order to test the sealing of the space between the two O-rings  148 ,  148 ′. The O-ring  148  is designed to stop any leaks between the stepped part  112  and the vault of the end-fitting  11 . This is because, should the external sheath be punctured, water will filtrate into the annular space between this sheath and the intermediate sheath  5 . Within the end-fitting, the resin present in the end-fitting normally prevent water from infiltrating; however, in case water succeeds in infiltrating between the stepped part and the vault of the end-fitting, by passing between the monocone  113  and the skirt  141 , the O-ring seal  148  is provided, the seal  148 ′ being there only to test the seal  148 . 
   Bolts  120  bring together and fix the flanges  118 ,  142  with the end-fitting  11 . 
   The way in which the end-fitting of the invention is assembled is as follows. 
   The process starts by the tightening of the bolts  151  that fasten the flange  118  against the flange  142  of the part  112 . By doing so, the lips  116  and  144  of the bicone  143  cooperate with the corresponding oblique conical stop surfaces  116   a  and  144   a , formed respectively on the skirt  119  of the flange  118  and on the stepped part  112  itself, which lips expand and penetrate into the sheath  5 . A sealing test of these lips  116 ,  144  is then carried out by means of the orifices  145 ,  146 , the O-ring seal  147  ensuring that there is no leak between the skirt  119  and the flange  142 . 
   When the above test gives a satisfactory result, the efficiency of the seals  148 ,  148 ′ is then tested by means of the orifice  150 , which makes it possible to be sure that the stop seal  148  is effective for stopping any leaks that might occur behind the monocone  113 , between the stepped part  112  and the vault of the end-fitting, the second seal  148 ′ having no other role than of permitting the sealing test. 
   When this second test gives a satisfactory result, the vault of the end-fitting  11  is brought up to the joined flanges  118 ,  142  by tightening the bolts  120 . The monocone  113  is pushed against the stop surface  113   a  and deforms inward, biting into the internal sheath  2 . 
   The correct length of armor plies  6  are then put into position with a clamp  21  and the end-fitting is filled with resin.