A Vertebrae Bend Restrictor (VBR) is used in the

oil and gas industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest ...

as part of offshore deep sea drilling operations. It is designed to prevent damage to an umbilical cable from overbending. It offsets the action of applied loads which could kink or buckle the internal conduits of an umbilical, cable, flexible riser pipe or MUX line. Most people in the subsea industry have never seen a VBR break during testing or regular use, but manufacturers of VBRs occasionall
test VBR assemblies
t
ultimate failure

Companies that Manufacture VBRs

EXSTO

Matrix Composites & Engineering

UW-Elast

Lankhorst

ABCO Subsea

Pipeline Engineering

Whitefield Plastics

Trelleborg Offshore

Bardot Group

Utex Industries, Inc.

Companies that Design VBRs

DGDG-EU
Drilling technology Petroleum production