With regard to the sealing structure characteristics of the underwater clamp connector, based on the Hertz contact theory, this article studies the method of solving the extreme value of the radius of curvature on the two curved surfaces at the sealing contact point; first, the method of calculating the extreme value of the radius of curvature at any surface point of the rotary part is obtained, and then the equivalent radius of curvature is solved. Using finite element simulation to study the contact sealing characteristics without considering the edge thickness and width of the sealing gasket, it is verified that the Hertz contact theory is applicable to the metal contact theory of underwater clamp connectors. Then, the sealing simulation with the influence of the detailed dimensions of the sealing gasket is compared with the theoretical result of the direct application of the Hertz contact theory in the underwater clamp connector contact, and the theoretical correction coefficient of metal contact seal for underwater clamp connectors is introduced to solve the errors. The pressure sealing experiment is carried out on six-inch flange and metal sealing gasket, which proves that the coefficient can greatly enhance the theoretical calculation accuracy of the contact sealing of the underwater clamp connector.

The top-tensioned riser is an important equipment in offshore oil and gas development. The hydro-pneumatic tensioner is an essential device to ensure the safety of the top-tensioned riser. To investigate the dynamic performance of the marine platform hydro-pneumatic tensioner, this paper proposed a first-order Taylor approximation method and created the frequency response function of the hydro-pneumatic tensioner. According to the frequency response function, the hydro-pneumatic tensioner is a first-order spring-mass system. With the given parameters, the system stiffness coefficient is 66.1 kN/m, the natural annular frequency is 20.99 rad/s and the damping ratio is 2.23 × 10⁻⁴. The effects of the high-pressure accumulator, low-pressure accumulator, hydraulic cylinder and pipeline design parameters on the stiffness coefficient, natural annular frequency and damping ratio are analyzed. The stiffness coefficient can be increased by (1) increasing the high-pressure accumulator pressure and reducing the high-pressure accumulator volume; (2) increasing the pressure of the low-pressure accumulator and reducing the low-pressure accumulator volume; (3) increasing the piston diameter; and vice versa. The natural annular frequency can be increased by: (1) increasing the high-pressure accumulator pressure and reducing the high-pressure accumulator volume; (2) increasing the pressure of the low-pressure accumulator and reducing the low-pressure accumulator volume; (3) increasing the piston diameter; and vice versa. The damping ratio can be increased by increasing the pipeline length and reducing the pipeline inner diameter.

Taking the subsea collect connector as an example, the sealing characteristics of the sealing structure of the subsea connector under transient thermal–structural coupling were studied. Based on Airy’s thermal stress function, the mathematical model was established, the complex stress function was used to solve the problem, and a three-dimensional transient thermal stress model of the core sealing parts was obtained. The transient thermal–structural coupling stress model of the core seal was obtained by linear superposition principle. The transient temperature field of the subsea collet connector under different working conditions was analyzed. It was found that the larger the temperature difference between the components was, the greater the difference of expansion rate was, and the greater the impact on the sealing performance of LSG was in the process of temperature variation from transient to steady distribution. Numerical simulations of various working conditions under the transient temperature field were carried out. The results showed that sudden change of the temperature and oil–gas pressure will bring about large fluctuations of the maximum contact stress and equivalent stress of the seal, which was easy to fatigue wear, and thus affect the reliability of the sealing performance. Finally, the experiment proves that the sealing ring can maintain sealing performance under the conditions of temperature-cyclic loading. The coupled mathematical model proposed in this paper could be used for the transient thermal–structural coupling theoretical analysis of similar subsea equipment.