These penetrators contact the inner or outer surface of a curved cylindrical solid whose axis follows a smooth spline fitted through the nodes of the other line (the splined line). Line contact models point-surface contact, with localised penetrators placed at the nodes (or at other points) on one of the two lines (referred to as the penetrating line).The line contact and line clashing models have different features: to help you judge which might be most suitable for your application, here are the main differences, advantages and disadvantages. OrcaFlex also has another way of modelling contact between lines, called line clashing. One line strikes the outer surface of another, as seen in riser interference cases.One line is constrained to follow another at certain arc lengths, such as drilling riser choke and kill lines, installation guide wires, piggy-back risers.One line is contained within another, such as pipe-in-pipe systems, pull-in operations.For example, the line contact model permits OrcaFlex to model systems where: The model works by placing penetrators at the nodes (or other points) of one of the two lines, which then contact, and penetrate, the inside or outside surface of a curved cylinder representing the other line. The line contact facility enables you to model contact between pairs of lines, and it is capable of modelling all sorts of contact situations.
