FR2544562A1 - SHIELDED SUBMARINE CABLE JUNCTION, HOUSING FOR SUCH A JUNCTION, AND METHOD FOR JOINING SUCH A CABLE - Google Patents

Abstract

ACCORDING TO THE INVENTION, THE JUNCTION OF AN ARMORED UNDERWATER CABLE INCLUDES A TUBULAR HOUSING 10 HAVING END TRUNKS OF DECREASING INTERNAL SECTION 10A WHICH FIT TIGHTLY ON THE OUTER SHELL 5 OF THE UNDERWATER CABLE, AND THE WIRES OR BANDS OF ARMOR 4 ARE FLARED AND DEFORMED BY THEIR ENDS 4A ADJACENT TO EACH END OF THE CABLE, INSIDE EACH END TRUNCON OF DECREASING SECTION. THE BOX 10 IS MANUFACTURED FROM EPOXIDE RESIN TRUNKS AND WOUND FILAMENTS, THESE TRUNKS 10A BEING BONDED TO EACH OTHER BY AN ADHESIVE MATERIAL AND FILLED WITH A FILLING MATERIAL INCLUDING A CHARGED EPOXIDE RESIN. APPLICATION TO SHIELDED UNDERWATER CABLE CONNECTIONS.

Description

The present invention relates to a set

  constituting a stack for sub-cable connections

  sailors. The term "cable", as used below, includes electrical cables, fiber optic cables,

  bundles of pipes or any combination of these elements.

  For example, a single cable may include hoses

  carrying hydraulic fluids, metal conductors

  Isolated carriers for carrying electrical power, and metallic conductors or optical fibers for communication purposes.

  outer armor threads or bands.

  Such cables, and in particular junctions

  in such cables, must withstand long-term constraints

  considerable distances when these cables are laid in

  high seas, or when they have descended from

  forms of oil drilling, while simultaneously they have to withstand very high compressive forces

  when they are in situ, at great depths.

  Traditionally, housings for submarine cable junctions have been made from

  machined steel tubes incorporating (if necessary)

  steel shield anchors, adjustable load collars, threaded end caps, and are filled with a filler after the joint has been completed and the casing secured in place. exerted on the junction is transferred from the shield, through the load clamps, to the steel junction box The filler is used to prevent moisture entering the steel junction box from reaching the junction box. the cable junctions inside the entire housing Such housings

  steel are expensive and heavy to handle.

  According to the present invention, there is provided an underwater cable junction box comprising a hollow tubular structure, characterized in that at least two end sections of the case are each formed as a hollow tube made of composite resin material epoxy and wound filaments, each end section being shaped with an end portion of decreasing inner section, with adjacent sections of the housing connected to each other by joints secured by adhesion between portions of non-decreasing section sections , at least one segment of the casing having a filling hole, through which the finished casing is filled with a material of

  filling comprising a charged epoxy resin.

  The invention also proposes a method of connecting

  of a shielded submarine cable inside a tubular casing which is then filled with a filling material comprising an epoxy resin, characterized in that the

  process comprises the steps of dividing and distorting

  sea the ends of the wires or armor bands in position

  adjacent to each end of the cable, to enclose the connection

  cable within an epoxy resin tubular casing and coiled filaments having decreasing inner section end portions, which fit tightly over the outer casing of the cable, and to fill the casing with a material filling device comprising a charged epoxy resin. One embodiment of the invention will be

  present described with reference to the appended drawing, which represents

  a longitudinal section through one half of a

submarine cable junction.

  The cable to be connected is shown as being a bundle of hydraulic pipes containing pipes 1 and 2 coated with a polyethylene belt which, in turn, is surrounded by coiled steel wire 4 Finally, the armor is covered by an outer sheath made of polyethylene 5. Each end of cable is threaded into a corresponding half of a segment of casing 10 made of epoxy resin and glass filaments rolled up The box section is of tubular section, the main part being of a inner diameter greater than the outer diameter of the outer sheath 5 of the cable Each section has an end portion i Qa of decreasing inner section, which

  fits tightly on the outer sheath 5 of the cable.

  To make a cable junction, each end

  first cable is first threaded into a shrink sleeve 11, in an annular plug lla fiber agglomerated by a synthetic resin, and in a ring-shaped annular seal 11b U-shaped The box-section is then slid by above-the end of the cable The outer sheath 13 is cut and folded to release a length of armor 4 The armor son are flared and the ends 4 has son are deformed randomly, for example by crooked or Alternatively, the ends of the wires may be left straight or slightly blasted. The inner belt 3 is also cut and folded backwards to a lesser extent, in order to disengage the individual ends of the pipes 1 and 2. Each end of the pipe is provided with a threaded coupling member 12, 13, respectively A metal stabilizing sleeve 14 is force-fitted on the inner belt 3 and a circular clamp 15 is attached to the latter by screws 16 The compression of an annular sealing ring 17 is made between collars

  of the sleeve and the clamp, when the screws 16 are tightened.

  Finally, a heat-shrinkable sleeve 18 can be placed

  The end of the cable is now ready to be connected to another cable end prepared from a cable.

similar way.

  The two ends of the cable to be connected are brought against each other and the corresponding coupling members 12 and 13 of the pipes are screwed to one another. The corresponding casing sections 10 are then abutted against each other. other after an inner connecting sleeve 19 has been introduced into one of the box sections The box sections are fixed one

  to the other and to the connection sleeve by means of a

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  Locally adhered with an adhesive material, with the aid of the abutting junction l Ob the lla fiber lla clad by synthetic resin is pushed into the recess machined in the end section of the casing, in thereby compressing the U-shaped seal 11b. The heat-shrinkable sleeve 11 is then moved in position over the plug and heated to form a tight seal, shrink-fitted to the end of the housing and As a variant, the junction box can be wrapped in

  whole in a heat-shrinkable coating.

  When all the operations presented above have been carried out, the inside of the casing is filled using a filling material comprising an epoxy resin and which is introduced through the filling holes.

  l Od in the sections of box 10, which serve as a mold.

  The result is a strong and lightweight cable junction, which is resistant to pressure and impervious to moisture penetration. Any longitudinal tensile stress in the cable is transferred, through deformed and flared weave wires, to filling body

  epoxy resin within the conical end shapes

  A portion of the stress is further transferred to the box section 10 and, via the glue seal 1c, to the other end section, and then again, via the filler, to armor wires on the other end

of cable.

  The manufacture of the end sections 10 of the casing is inexpensive when compared to that of traditional steel junction boxes Each end section is easily manufactured on a removable mandrel, the only machining which is then necessary being that which should be done at the joint areas, to ensure good joints, and at the descending section end to ensure a good

  fitting for the ring-shaped seal

  U. The completed joint is very strong Typical test results on a 12.5 mm diameter cable junction with a case with a total length of 1.22 m show that it will withstand a tensile load of approx. At least 299 k N. As an alternative to a two-part casing, as shown in the drawing, the casing may be made of, for example, three parts. A central tubular section

  can be connected to two end sections of sec-

  This embodiment is shown in the drawing with a machined lap joint 10e between the central section and the end section of decreasing section. This embodiment can be reinforced with a connecting sleeve 18b (shown only in dotted lines) if this is desired This allows for a very flexible system with common end sections usable with a wide variety of central sections

of different lengths.

  Although mention has been made of a composite material

  site made of epoxy resin reinforced with glass filaments, other filamentary materials are also available, for example the KEVLAR (registered trademark), carbon fiber, polyester, etc. Similarly, the angle of deposition of the filaments may be different on different parts of the tube to provide the desired performance of the load

  in tension / loop in different positions.

Claims (6)

  1 Underwater cable junction box includes   a hollow tubular structure, characterized in that at least two end sections (10) of the casing exits each formed as a hollow tube made of composite material of epoxy resin and wound filaments, each end section (10) having an end portion (1 Oa) of decreasing inner section, with adjacent housing sections connected to each other by joints secured by adhesion between non-decreasing section portions of the sections, at least one housing section having a hole filling device (10 d) through which the completed casing is filled with a filling material comprising a resin epoxy charged.   2 junction box according to claim 1, characterized in that two end sections (1 ia) of decreasing section are combined with a tubular section central right.   3 junction box according to one of the claims   1 and 2, characterized in that the sections (10) are   connected by means of machined lap seals (10 e).   4 junction box according to one of the claims   cations 1 and 2, characterized in that the joints between the   sections (10) are provided with internal sleeves (19) narrowly   tightly fitting lap joints (l Oc) -with the sections (10).   Junction box according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the epoxy resin composite material is reinforced with a glass filament wound.   A method of joining a shielded submarine cable within a tubular housing which is then filled with a filler comprising an epoxy resin, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of dividing and deforming the ends (4a) of the armor wires or bands (4) adjacent to each cable end (1, 2) to enclose the cable junction inside a tubular casing (10) in resin   epoxy and wound filaments, having end portions   of decreasing internal section (10 a) fitting-   on the outer covering (5) of the cable (1,2), and to fill the casing with a filling material comprising a charged epoxy resin.   7 Junction of an armored submarine cable, including   a tubular housing (10) with end portions   of decreasing internal section (l Oa) which adjust   on the outer sheath (5) of the submarine cable, in which the armor wires or bands (4) are flared and deformed, adjacent to each cable end (1, 2), within each end portion of decreasing section (10 a), characterized in that the casing (10) is made from sections of epoxy resin and wound filaments bonded to one another by a material   adhesive and filled with a filler material   epoxy resin loaded, so that the tensile stress in the cable (1,2) is transferred from the armor wires or bands (4) of a cable end (1,2), via the epoxy resin filler and casing (10) to the yarns or strips (4) of the other cable end (1,2).