Fluoroglide® Subsea Bearing Sleeper Pads
Friction wear on pipelines insulated coating, high-voltage power cables and high-temperature pipelines situated on the sea bed can cause damage where they have to cross over existing pipes and power cables.
Concrete or steel structures are designed to be situated at these cross-over points to carry the pipes and cables which are continually expanding and contracting due to temperature variations.
Utilising our range of Fluorinoid® load bearing low friction materials for over 30 years, we have gained a global reputation for providing Structural Bearings solutions to the Oil & Gas Industry.
Our range of FL340 Bearing Sleeper Pads - T Bearings have been developed for use in the subsea equipment area, for the power cable and pipeline support walls and cross-over points.
These types of bearings are also used in subsea buckle initiation sleeper units as slideways.
- Fluorinoid® FL340 polymer is used as a capping bearing in subsea pipe cross-over sleepers. It was chosen for this application due to its very high abrasion resistance, inertness to marine growths and low coefficient of friction.
- Fluorocarbon are able to supply Fluorinoid® FL340 manufactured to bespoke finished dimensions.
- PTFE has the lowest coefficient of friction of any known solid 'engineering material' including lubricated metal.
- Fluoroglide® slide bearings have near infinite life since chemicals and weather have no effect on PTFE - moisture absorption is less than 0.01% even under icing conditions or immersion, and the material is chemically inert.
Our range of Fluoroglide® FL340 Subsea Bearing Sleeper Pads have been designed to operate in sub-sea conditions.
The T Bearings can be manufactured to bespoke requirements and machined to fit on the top of the concrete or steel structures.
Fluorocarbon are more than just a supplier of Subsea Bearings made to customer drawings.
We can assist in the design and specification of materials to solve the clients problems.
One area in which we excel is the testing of the designed bearing under replicated environmental conditions.
We work closely with our clients to develop custom testing regimes that will give a much more accurate picture of how a bearing system will perform than typical laboratory testing.
Listed below are some of the previous custom tests we have undertaken.
- Friction testing to find breakout and dynamic figures at the design load/pressure rating.
- Wear testing under various loadings
- Accelerated life cycle testing to predict service life.
The above testing can also be carried out in controlled conditions to simulate high or low temperatures as well as simulating environments including the subsea. When performing tests in this fashion we go that extra mile to ensure accuracy like obtaining the correct type of seawater and sand type for the area in which the item will be used.
All aspects of the testing get recorded using data logging systems and calibrated instrumentation.
We encourage clients to visit and witness the testing or if this is not convenient, we can set up secure video links.
At client request, we regularly undergo third-party witness inspection of this kind of testing by companies like DNV and Bureau Veritas.
The following steps will provide an indication of the bearing requirements for a particular application:
- Determine the total load of the structure - this will indicate the total sleeper pad area required at a suitable bearing pressure and temperature.
- Take account of the operating environment to decide the most appropriate method of mounting the sleeper pads.
- Consider any unusual conditions affecting the sleeper pad, such as the need for additional thermal insulation, vibration pads and deflection of the FL340 sleeper pad surface.
- Material specification of the pipe/counterface material
- Predicted movement through the life cycle of the bearing
