Composite flexible pipe and method of manufacture

1. A reinforced flexible pipe comprising:

a pipe structure;

a first composite tape member having a T-shaped cross section; and a second composite tape member having a T-shaped cross section,

wherein the first composite tape member is wrapped on the pipe structure in a first orientation and the second composite tape member is wrapped on the pipe structure in a second orientation, and

wherein the first composite tape member and the second composite tape member each comprise a plurality of laminated strips of material.

2. A reinforced pipe of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of laminated strips of material are non-metallic and are bonded together.

3. The reinforced flexible pipe of claim 1 , wherein the first orientation comprises an orientation of the first composite tape such that the T-shape is inverted with respect to an outer surface of the pipe structure.

4. The reinforced pipe of claim 1 further comprising a polymer layer disposed between the first and the second composite tape members.

5. The reinforced pipe of claim 4 , wherein the polymer layer is low-friction so as to provide limited sliding movement between the first and the second composite tape members.

6. The reinforced pipe of claim 1 , wherein a wide region of the T-shape of the composite tape members comprise a first region and a narrow region of the T-shape of the composite tape members comprise a second region.

7. The reinforced pipe of claim 6 , wherein a thickness and textile structure of the first region is different from a thickness and textile structure of the narrow region.

8. The reinforced pipe of claim 6 , wherein the first region of the first tape member overlaps with the first region of the second tape member.

9. The reinforced pipe of claim 1 , wherein the tape members comprise reinforced extruded material.

10. The reinforced pipe according to claim 9 , wherein the extruded material is selected from the group consisting essentially of: metal, polymer and glass.

11. The reinforced pipe according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first composite tape member and the second composite tape member comprise at least one tapered surface parallel to a length direction of the tape.

12. A method of forming a flexible reinforced pipe, the method comprising:

forming a first tape with a T-shaped cross section; forming a second tape with a T-shaped cross section;

wrapping the first tape on a pipe structure in a first orientation;

wrapping the second tape on the pipe structure in a second orientation, and

wrapping a polymer layer on the first tape between the first tape and the second tape.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first orientation comprises an orientation of the first tape such that the T-shape is inverted with respect to an outer surface of the pipe structure.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein a wide part of the first tape overlaps with a wide part of the second tape.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the polymer is a low-friction layer so as to provide limited sliding movement between the first and the second composite tape members.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first and the second tapes are formed by gathering a plurality of tape strips together in a gathering die.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the gathering of the plurality of tape strips further comprises bonding the tape strips together.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first and second tapes comprise extruded material.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the extruded material is reinforced.