An improved analytical approach for simulating the lateral kinematic distress of deepwater offshore pipelines

Offshore pipelines are critical infrastructures and any possible damage may have devastating financial and environmental consequences. Earthquake-related geohazards (such as strong ground motion, active seismic faults, submarine landslides and debris flows) consist crucial threats that an offshore pipeline has to overcome. The main aim of the current study is to examine analytically a seabed-laid offshore pipeline subjected to a lateral kinematic distress due to a submarine landslide or a debris flow. Extra emphasis is given on the impact of pipe-soil interaction on the pipe response, by the realistic representation of the soil resistance via a tri-linear model. Firstly, the proposed analytical model is validated with a numerical model utilizing the finite-element method. Subsequently, various combinations of soil parameters and loading conditions that affect the examined problem are investigated with realistic input data taken from the offshore section of the high-pressure natural-gas pipeline TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline) in the Adriatic Sea. Finally, useful conclusions are drawn regarding the applicability and the efficiency of the proposed approach.     

Dynamic modelling of retrogressive landslides with emphasis on the role of clay sensitivity

This paper presents a detailed numerical study of the retrogressive failure of landslides in sensitive clays. The dynamic modelling of the landslides is carried out using a novel continuum approach, the particle finite element method, complemented with an elastoviscoplastic constitutive model. The multiwedge failure mode in the collapse is captured successfully, and the multiple retrogressive failures that have been widely observed in landslides in sensitive clays are reproduced with the failure mechanism, the kinematics, and the deposition being discussed in detail. Special attention has been paid to the role of the clay sensitivity on each retrogressive failure as well as on the final retrogression distance and the final run‐out distance via parametric studies. Moreover, the effects of the viscosity of sensitive clays on the failure are also investigated for different clay sensitivities.     

Development-Conservation Dilemma in the NilgiriMountains of South India

The Nilgiri Mountains of south India is considered unique by anthropologists, geologists, climatologists, botanists as well as tourists. It has remained a subject of constant study and research over the last two centuries. Man-nature balance had continued undisturbed in the Nilgiris for thousands of years until the early 19th century when it became a British colony attracting, in due course, various developmental activities. Subsequently, the Nilgiris and its popular hill stations emerged as favourite places for the British population in India for rest and recuperation, game and for raising commercial plantations. In the process, the traditional indigenous crops were replaced by “English“ vegetables and the natural forests gave way to commercial plantations of coffee, tea and other exotic species of trees.     

Giant submarine landslide grooves in the Neoproterozoic/Lower Cambrian Phe Formation, northwest Himalaya: Mechanisms of formation and palaeogeographic implications

Giant groove casts have been found in the upper Proterozoic to Lower Cambrian Phe Formation (Haimanta Group), a siliciclastic sandstone/shale succession in the Tethyan Zone of the Higher Himalaya tectonic unit. The grooves are among the largest linear erosion structures related to submarine mass-movements observed in the geologic record. They are up to 4 m wide, about 0.2 m deep and can be traced for more than 35 m without changing their character. The grooves are straight, subparallel to cross-cutting striations with shallow semi-circular cross-sections and well-defined superimposed minor ridges and grooves. Groove casts exist on the soles of several sandstone beds within a 73 m thick logged section, commonly associated with flute casts. Their characteristics were compared with several other types of ancient and modern submarine linear erosion structures. A sand-rich, non-channelized basin floor depositional environment is inferred from the lithofacies, the combination of sedimentary structures, the lack of coarse-grained pebbly facies, the lateral continuity of beds, and the lack of channel structures. The grooves probably formed by laminar debris flows/concentrated density flows dragging blocks of already lithified sediment across the basin floor. When the bedding is structurally rotated back to horizontal, the groove casts show consistent North–South oriented palaeocurrent trends, with South-directed palaeocurrent directions indicated by flute casts. These palaeocurrent orientations contrast with previous palaeogeographic reconstructions of this area, which propose sediment delivery from the South. We therefore suggest a new “double provenance” model for the spatial relationship of late Proterozoic to Early Cambrian strata of the Himalaya, in which Lesser and Tethyan Himalayan age-equivalent sediment was deposited in a connected basin, where the former received detritus from the South, and the latter from a hitherto unknown source in the North. One possible candidate for this northern source is the South China Block and an associated Neoproterozoic volcanic arc.     

海底管道开沟机械的技术经济性能评定与选型

本文在对水下管道开沟机械的需求市场、实际应用和研制开发动向作深入调研的基础上，选择水下管道开沟机械特有的技术先进性、适用性、安全可靠性以及经济性评价指标，构造评价模型，对水下管道施工作业中广为应用的水力冲射开沟机械、海底管道犁、机械开沟机和土壤液化法埋管设备及其机型的技术经济性能作了较为详尽地分析对比及综合评价。在此基础上，笔者提出了水下管道开沟机械的一般选型原则和对我国海底管道开沟机械研究开发工     

Stability Design System of Submarine Pipelines

This paper introduces a stability design system of submarine pipelines. The system can provide a reasonable design procedure for users with reference to domestic and foreign methods and in the light of home engineering experience.     

面向GIS的线状符号开放式多元设计方案

提出一种跨越专业限制，用于快速绘制任意曲率曲线的开放式线状符号“组合配置法”设计方案，即用主干线、辅助线、辅助圆和点符号等四种子线型的有机组合描述目标线型，并详细论述了其数据结构、文件结构及子线型的实现方法。同时还提出伪码法用于解决满足国标要求的图廓整饰线，并对裁剪法作了简要阐述。上述线型设计方法已成功设计、实现并应用于“海底地形成图系统(MBChar)”，已服务于大陆架海底成图项目。     

海底输油管道底砂床冲刷机理研究

设计了海底输油管道水槽冲刷试验模型,研究了海底输油管道与砂床处于不同相对位置情况下床砂起动流速的变化,采用理想流体映射定理对其进行了理论分析,探讨起动流速变化规律。结合有限元数值模拟对试验进行细化分析,研究了海底管道底砂床砂粒起动的产生机理,根据研究结果将冲刷过程划分为五个阶段。阐明了海底管道暴露冲刷的危害性和实时监测的重要性。     

埕岛油田海区海底地形变化及预防措施

综合在胜利石油管理局埕岛油田海区多年来工程测绘与地质勘察资料 ,对埕岛油田海区地形地貌特征及其变化与发育趋势进行了论述 ,同时讨论了埕岛油田海上工程中需要重视的问题以及有关的工程防护问题。     

水动力作用下管道稳定性的试验研究

利用振荡流水槽在以下两种约束条件下，研究波浪作用下直接铺设于砂质海底的管道失稳临界条件：1）管道两端自由；2）管道可水平、垂直自由运动，但流动受到限制。试验结果表明，管重无量纳数G与管道失稳的临界Fr数之间大致呈线性关系，而当G超过一定数值时，管道是侧向稳定的。管道的约束条件、砂床特性和加载速度对管道稳定性均有影响。