Bend Restrictors and Stiffeners Market

Bend Restrictors and Stiffeners Market: Overview

Bend restrictors and stiffeners are used in for deep-sea drilling operation in offshore areas in the oil & gas industry. Bend stiffeners are made up of polyurethane and have conically shaped design that helps add local stiffness to a riser, umbilical cable, and flowline to limit the curvature and bending stresses to acceptable levels. They are used to protect flexible pipelines from over-bending at the termination point. Bend restrictors are designed to prevent damage to an umbilical cable from over-bending. They balance the applied loads which could buckle the internal channels of flexible riser pipe, MUX line, and an umbilical cable. Bend restrictors are used to protect flexible pipelines from over-bending and buckling during their installation or operation phase where static loads are generated. 

Bend Restrictors and Stiffeners Market: Trend & Development

Increase in offshore drilling activities is augmenting the bend restrictors and stiffeners market. The bend restrictors and stiffeners market is expected to expand in the near future owing to the rise in demand for of fossil fuels across the globe. However, offshore operations are costlier and risky than onshore operations. Therefore, offshore operations focus on safety and cost-effectiveness. The bend restrictors and stiffeners market has been expanding as it offers several properties such as addition of stiffness and limit bending stresses and curvature. It also prevents structure damage from over-bending and lowers structure fatigue. Split design allow installation of the restrictor after pipe termination, ease of installation onshore and offshore, light weight in water, reducing the loading on the pipe, and increased durability are some of the benefits of bend restrictors driving the bend restrictors and stiffeners market .

The bend restrictors and stiffeners market can be segmented based on application and region. In terms of application, the bend restrictors and stiffeners market can be divided into cables, subsea riser, flowlines, flexible pipelines, and others. Bend restrictors are used to protect flexible pipelines from buckling and over-bending during their installation or operation phase, wherein static loads are generated. Bend restrictors are used to support a flexible pipe over free spans where there is the possibility of damaging the pipe structure because of over-bending, wellhead connections, PLET connections, J-tube exits, rigid pipe crossovers and over a subsea buoy. Unlike bend stiffeners, bend restrictors provide protection once the flexible pipe has achieved a particular bend radius. Polymer bend restrictor elements are typically made from structural polyurethane. 

Global Bend Restrictors and Stiffeners Market: Regional Outlook 

Based on region, the bend restrictors and stiffeners market can be split into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is a key region of the bend restrictors and stiffeners market. It is followed by Middle East & Africa and Latin America. Far East Asia accounted for major share of the bend restrictors and stiffeners market in 2017 due to the large amount of offshore well drilling (1,282) in the area. Thailand, China, and India are key countries for offshore well drilling in Asia Pacific. However, the UAE and countries in Africa are expected to significantly drive the bend restrictors and stiffeners market in the near future due to the large number of offshore drilling in these regions. Increasing offshore activities in Latin America countries such as Brazil and Mexico will drive the bend restrictors and stiffeners market in the region. 

Global Bend Restrictors and Stiffeners Market: Key Players 

Key players operating in the global bend restrictors and stiffeners market include Trelleborg, EXSTO, UW-ELAST AB, ABCO Subsea, BARDOT GROUP, Whitefield Plastics, Balmoral Group Holdings Ltd., First Subsea Ltd, and Flexible Engineered Solutions Limited.