The leakage analysis of submarine pipeline connecter based on a new fractal porous media model

The leakage mechanism of the clamp connector for submarine pipeline is investigated. The contact seal of a clamp connector is regarded as a half-cylinder squeezing a plane. Moreover, mean stress of the contact region is used to calculate the permeability, based on an observation length-dependent mechanic model and a new fractal porous media model. The analysis yields insight into the effects of surface fractal parameters on the permeability, when mean stress rises within the yield limit. Compared with experiment results, the prediction of this model shows well consistency in the trend.