Availability assessment of subsea distribution systems at the architectural level

This paper presents a framework for the availability assessment of subsea distribution systems during the functional design (selection) phase. This framework, which also includes all interface elements, can be started at an early stage when the definition of the system architecture is coarse and generic failure data is available and can be refined as more information becomes available, then maintained as the system ages during the operational phase. The main objective is to present a decision tool for selecting the subsea distribution system with the highest advantage in terms of availability at a very early stage of the design. The Design Structure Matrix (DSM) mapping method is used to represent the system's components and their dependencies, which is then enriched with additional reliability data to calculate availability. A case study of an actual subsea distribution system is used to demonstrate the approach.