Modelling and control of tension in a flexible pipe tensile armour manufacturing process

With the increasing application of flexible pipes in deep-sea operations, higher processing accuracy is required for the individual metal layers of these pipes to withstand greater service loads. In the helical winding production of the tensile armour layer, the accuracy of tension control significantly affects the uniformity of the steel strip after winding. To ensure tensile stability during the processing of steel strips, a tensile model for the manufacturing process is proposed. This model can be used to predict the magnitude and trend of tension fluctuations caused by the unwinding device, facilitating the design of a constant tension control system for steel strips based on an integral separation fuzzy PID algorithm. This system can achieve rapid convergence of tension during large tension fluctuations. The experimental results confirm the accuracy of the prediction model and the reliability and effectiveness of the designed tension control system. With this system, the tension fluctuation range is reduced by nearly 40%, and the average value of the standard deviation of the spacing after steel strip winding is decreased by 0.21 mm, demonstrating the potential of this approach for improving the manufacturing quality of the tensile armour layer of flexible pipes.