Case Study: 4Subsea AS extends subsea equipment life with Hexagon Marc

Extending the life of subsea drilling equipment

4Subsea AS, an independent engineering company specializing in subsea technology, faced a challenge with the traditional S-N method for predicting fatigue life in subsea drilling equipment. This approach was often overly conservative, especially for components with unique geometries like thicker walls or high stress concentrations, and could unnecessarily limit drilling operations. Hexagon’s MSC Software Marc, a finite element analysis product, was used to explore a more accurate solution.

Hexagon’s solution involved using the software's Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) to simulate crack growth, providing more physically accurate and less conservative fatigue life predictions than the traditional method. This allowed 4Subsea to validate that for critical components, the equipment's life could be extended considerably. The more accurate results enabled oil companies to increase extractable amounts of oil from wells without additional capital investment, significantly boosting uptime and financial returns.

4Subsea AS