Reliability analysis of submarine power cables and determination of external mechanical protections

A technique is formulated to assist engineers who are involved in submarine cable projects. A mathematical model is built to calculate the failure rate for every 250 m length interval of the cable route. In turn, critical parts of the cable route are identified and suitable protective measures are determined to improve the reliability of operation to a given safe limit. Correlation between the external protections and the sea bed condition is considered, and as a result a new parameter, equivalent protection, is defined. Calculation is based on the concept of dimensional reduction. A computer evaluation of several case studies is illustrated for better understanding and for comparison with the practical situation