Yin, Y; Liang, H; Su, Q; Paik, JK; Yan, J; Lu, Q; Chen, X; (2025) Influence of seabed gravel characteristics on the wear of subsea cable outer sheaths. Ships and Offshore Structures 10.1080/17445302.2025.2576921. (In press).

Text Accepted Manuscript seabed gravel-non mark.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 29 October 2026. Download (1MB)

Abstract

Subsea power and communication cables are susceptible to mechanical wear at contact points with the seabed, threatening system integrity and service reliability. However, the effects of seabed gravel characteristics on the wear performance of cable outer sheaths remain insufficiently understood. This study conducts wear tests to investigate the tribological interactions between the outer sheath of subsea cables and gravels under both rolling and fixed contact states. The influences of gravel particle size, hardness, and morphology on the wear coefficient of the sheath material are quantitatively evaluated. The results demonstrate that rolling gravel induces a higher wear coefficient compared to fixed gravel. Moreover, the wear coefficient increases with greater gravel size, higher hardness, and more angular particle shapes. A synergistic interaction between gravel hardness and shape is also observed, indicating a compound effect on wear behavior. These findings provide a foundation for the design optimization and predictive maintenance of subsea cables.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as XMLJSONCSV

Archive Staff Only

View Item