Construction of pipes

摘要

An elongate hollow structure and method of constructing the hollow structure is described, the hollow structure including a radially inner portion and a radially outer portion merging together to form a tubular wall structure. The method includes providing the radially inner portion, assembling the radially outer portion about the radially inner portion, and radially expanding the inner portion. The outer portion comprises an outer layer of fiber reinforced composite construction surrounded by a flexible outer casing. A space is provided between the radially inner portion and flexible outer casing. The outer layer includes reinforcement and a binder. The flexible outer casing resists radial expansion of the reinforcement, subjecting it to radial compression. The radially expanding inner portion cooperates with the flexible outer casing to cause the volume of the space to progressively decrease, causing the binder to spread through the space between the radially inner portion and flexible outer casing.

主权项

1. A method of constructing an elongate hollow structure, the elongate hollow structure having a radially inner portion and a radially outer portion, with the two portions merging together to provide an integrated tubular wall structure, the method comprising:
providing the radially inner portion, assembling the radially outer portion about the radially inner portion, and radially expanding the inner portion, wherein the outer portion comprises an outer layer of fibre reinforced composite construction surrounded by a flexible outer casing, and wherein there is a space between the radially inner portion and the flexible outer casing, the outer layer of fibre reinforced composite construction comprises reinforcement and a binder, the flexible outer casing serves to resist radial expansion of the reinforcement, thereby causing it to be subjected to radial compression, the radially expanding inner portion operates in conjunction with the flexible outer casing to cause the volume of the space between the radially inner portion and the flexible outer casing to progressively decrease, thereby causing the binder within the reinforcement to spread through the space between the radially expanding inner portion and the flexible outer casing, and the flexible outer casing has less resilience than the radially expanding inner portion so as to yieldingly resist radial expansion of the inner portion.