Late deliverables on engineering projects can create a strained relationship between the company and the customer. Every day a product is late there is a fee penalty and with obstacles in the production process surfacing, it is critical to find a solution as fast as possible. HMH needs a redesign for their subsea hydraulic manifold due to it being too complex to manufacture. Our team needs to redesign the part to make it more easily manufacturable to help the production time as well as confirm the project timeline is on track to meet the deadline.
Example of a Blowout Preventer Stack [2]
The current design for the hydraulic manifold is too large and has many highly complex internal features that makes manufacturing very difficult. The current manufacturing method is hot isostatic pressing (HIP), which causes the internal features of the manifold to shift during the process. As the device needs to fit inside the gap between stacks, it must be small. Additionally, since the device is to be used subsea, it must be able to withstand subsea pressures and stresses and remain operational. With these constraints, a new simplified design is needed as well as a different manufacturing method. Through extensive research about possible manufacturing methods, our team plans on finding the best option for the given problem and discussing our findings regularly with our sponsor.
One of our main obstacles in developing a solution to this problem is ensuring that our design will be able to withstand increased subsea pressures. This is a primary need of our problem, and we must consider the various materials that our device could be composed of. Additionally, we face the challenge of formulating a device that is meant to be a part of a larger stack. This means that we have to not only consider the capabilities of how our design will function on its own, but as a part of a larger system. Conceptually, considering the domino effect that can ensue if our device does not perform will be the primary obstacle.
Blowout Preventer Stack Placed Subsea [1]
[1] “OTW Portfolio Archive,” OTW Portfolio Archive -, https://braeden.com/otw-portfolio/ (accessed Sep. 9, 2023).
[2] “Pressure Control Systems,” NOV, https://www.nov.com/products/pressure-control-systems (accessed Sep. 9, 2023).
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