Trelleborg Offshore has been invited to take part in a new exhibition at the Western Australian Maritime Museum, supplying one of its innovative Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) suppression systems for display at the specialist event.

The exhibition, ‘Immerse: Exploring the Deep’, has been specifically developed by the WA Museum and Perth branch of the Society of Underwater Technology (SUT) to bring to life the alien environment of the deep sea and enable visitors to experience what it's like to explore and work below the ocean.

The exhibition focuses on technological innovations, illustrating the challenges, ingenuity and opportunities the underwater industry brings to the broader community.

Terry Griffiths, chairman of Perth SUT, commented: “Deep below our vast oceans is an alien world that few people will ever experience and to survive and work in this environment is a huge challenge. This exhibition serves to showcase the clever ways in which humans work underwater and the technology they have designed which allows them to do so.

“Having been fortunate to enough to work with Trelleborg many years ago, I was extremely pleased when the company agreed to participate in the Immerse exhibition with the offer of some of its VIV strakes for display, as well as video footage of tests demonstrating the dramatic contrast between riser behaviour with and without strakes fitted. It is the participation and enthusiasm of companies such as Trelleborg which have enabled the Immerse exhibit to take place.”

The exhibit was officially opened at a private launch event on September 2nd and will be on display at the WA Maritime Museum, Fremantle from September 3rd until March 2nd 2012. Representing Trelleborg Offshore at the launch was Brian Arnold, from Energy Agencies in Perth, who has recently been appointed as Trelleborg Offshore’s Business Development Consultant for the Australia and New Zealand region.

Brian will be part of the Global Business Development Team and act as the direct contact for business within the area. Speaking about his appointment, Brian commented: “Customer focus is a key priority for Trelleborg Offshore and the company is continually looking at ways to improve its day-to-day communication process, not only with customers, but with key representatives as well.

“Therefore it is important that they have access to sales, engineering and management personnel and support, from every corner of the globe. Having worked with the company for many years, I have a long standing relationship with Trelleborg and am excited to be officially joining the team to become the key representative for the region of Australia and New Zealand, providing customers with the experience of a global company, locally.

“The Immerse exhibition aims to inspire young people to explore technical, subsea and marine related subjects as future careers by showcasing the offshore industry and research organisations in Western Australia and we are very happy that we have been able to play a part in such a worthwhile exhibition.”

For the exhibit, Trelleborg supplied a full sized Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) suppression system. VIV is caused by the regular shedding of vortices in the wake behind riser and flowline pipes in steady current. The flow naturally "locks in" to shed these vortices in the same pattern at the same frequency along a significant length of pipe. This "lock in" is measured by the spanwise coherence and can cause the pipe to vibrate, resulting in accelerated fatigue damage and problems such as pipe girth weld failure or premature pipe failure.

To suppress the damaging vibration forces to an acceptable level, Trelleborg’s VIV suppression system introduces three-dimensionality into the flow which disrupts the spanswise coherence of vortices that might be shed, leaving the wake stable and steady.

Tags: Trelleborg Offshore