Case Study: Parker Hannifin improves subsea seal design with MSC Software Marc

MSC’s Marc Helps Ensure Safe Operation of Subsea Oil Drilling

Parker Hannifin used MSC Software’s Marc to help redesign a seal for deepwater oil rigs drilling at 10,000 feet below sea level. The existing D-ring seal was suspected of leaking, which increased the time needed to activate a blowout preventer safety device, and physical testing alone had already taken six weeks without solving the problem.

Using MSC Software’s Marc, Parker Hannifin ran non-linear finite element analysis to model the seal’s behavior under high pressure, near-freezing temperatures, and long-term loading conditions. The team identified why the D-ring seal was failing, validated material behavior against lab testing, and developed a custom PolyPak® seal design while reducing the need for physical testing and speeding the search for a solution.

Parker Hannifin

Stephen Armstrong

FEA Analyst/New Product Development Engineer