Wave interaction with a submarine pipeline in clayey soil due to random waves

The wave pressure and uplift force due to random waves on a submarine pipeline (resting on bed, partially buried and fully buried) in clayey soil are measured. The influence of various parameters viz., wave period, wave height, water depth, burial depth and consistency index of the soil on wave pressures around and uplift force on the submarine pipeline was investigated. The wave pressures were measured at three locations around the submarine pipeline (each at 120° to the adjacent one). It is found that the wave pressure and uplift force spectrum at high consistency index of the soil is smaller compared to that of low consistency index. Just burying the pipeline (e/D=1.0) in clayey soil reduces the uplift force to less than 60% of the force experienced by a pipeline resting on the seabed (e/D=0.0) for I_c=0.33.     

黏性土淹没射流破土实验研究

海底水力喷射开沟技术在海底管道、光缆埋设等工程中得到广泛应用,然而黏土尤其是硬质黏性土中的水力开沟施工较为困难,为阐明其中的破土机制,开展了二维垂向淹没射流开沟物理模拟实验。通过观察射流破土的过程,发现:软黏土与硬质黏性土中冲坑发展的特点有所不同,破土机制也存在差异。射流对硬质黏性土的破坏中,压力导致的剪切破坏起到很大作用,在土力学原理上近似于地基土整体剪切破坏,据此建立了硬质黏性土射流破土模型,同时提出冲坑颈口直径在硬质黏性土冲坑形态中的重要性,并以此取代原有的冲坑直径作为一个预测指标。     

Onset of scour below pipelines and self-burial

This paper summarizes the results of an experimental study on the onset of scour below and self-burial of pipelines in currents/waves. Pressure was measured on the surface of a slightly buried pipe at two points, one at the upstream side and the other at the downstream side of the pipe, both in the sand bed. The latter enabled the pressure gradient (which drives a seepage flow underneath the pipe) to be calculated. The results indicated that the excessive seepage flow and the resulting piping are the major factor to cause the onset of scour below the pipeline. The onset of scour occurred always locally (but not along the length of the pipeline as a two-dimensional process). The critical condition corresponding to the onset of scour was determined both in the case of currents and in the case of waves. Once the scour breaks out, it will propagate along the length of the pipeline, scour holes being interrupted with stretches of soil (span shoulders) supporting the pipeline. As the span shoulder gets shorter and shorter, more and more weight of the pipeline is exerted on the soil. In this process, a critical point is reached where the bearing capacity of the soil is exceeded (general shear failure). At this point, the pipe begins to sink at the span shoulder (self-burial). It was found that the self-burial depth is governed mainly by the Keulegan–Carpenter number. The time scale of the self-burial process, on the other hand, is governed by the Keulegan–Carpenter number and the Shields parameter. Diagrams are given for the self-burial depth and the time scale of the self-burial process.     

Scour of the Seabed Under A Pipeline in Oscillating Flow

The scour of the seabed under a pipeline is studied experimentally in this paper. Tests are carried out in a U-shaped oscillatory water tunnel with a box imbedded in the bottom of the test section. By use of the standard sand, clay and plastic grain as the seabed material, the influence of the bed material on the scour is studied. The relationship between the critical initial gap-to-diameter ratio above which no scour occurs and the parameters of the oscillating flow is obtained. The self-burial phenomenon, which occurs for the pipeline not fixed to two sidewalls of the test section, is not observed for the fixed pipeline. The effect of the pipe on sand wave formation is discussed. The maximum equilibrium scour depths for different initial gap-to-diameter ratios, different Kc numbers and different bed sands are also given in this paper.     

Investigation on the Local Scour Beneath Piggyback Pipelines Under Clear-Water Conditions

A piggyback pipeline consists of two pipes such that the secondary line rides on the main pipe with a fixed distance between two pipes in length. The novel strategy is utilized in offshore areas instead of a single flow line. In this regard, there are only a handful of experimental and numerical studies investigating the effect of scour below a piggyback pipeline under steady current. Hence, this study focuses on examining the influential factors on scouring due to steady current including the pipe diameter and the gap between pipes through numerical simulations and experimental tests. Accordingly, at the first phase of the research, a single pipe was established and tested in laboratory to compare the results with those of an empirical equation. After finishing experimental verifications,piggyback pipelines were also assembled to study the scouring under steady current conditions. It was concluded that by increasing the gap distance between the pipes, the maximum scour depth decreases; however, an increase in the small pipe's diameter results in a larger maximum scour depth. Secondly, numerical simulations were carried out using the FLOW-3D software which was found to be a suitable tool for the numerical investigation of this study.Finally, the numerical results have been compared with the corresponding experimental data and a relatively good agreement was achieved between them.     

Effects of a cover layer on wave-induced pore pressure around a buried pipe in an anisotropic seabed

In engineering practice, a cover layer of coarser material has been used to protect a buried marine pipeline from wave-induced seabed instability. However, most previous investigations of the wave–seabed–pipe interaction problem have been concerned only with such a problem either in an isotropic single layer or a rigid pipe. This paper proposes a two-dimensional finite element model by employing the principle of repeatability to investigate the wave-induced soil response around a buried pipeline. The elastic anisotropic soil bahavior and geometry of cover layer are included in the present model, while the pipe is considered to be an elastic medium. This study focuses on the effects of a cover layer (including thickness B and width W of the cover layer) on the wave-induced pore pressure in the vicinity of a buried pipeline.     

Wave-induced uplift force on a submarine pipeline buried in a compressible seabed

A two-dimensional finite-element simulation of the wave-induced hydrodynamic uplift force acting on a submarine pipeline buried in sandy seabed sediments subject to continuous loading of sinusoidal surface waves is presented. Neglecting inertia forces, a linear-elastic stress-strain relationship for the soil and Darcy's law for the flow of pore fluid are assumed. The model takes into account the compressibility of both components (i.e., pore fluid and soil skeleton) of the two-phase medium.The results of numerical analysis are presented and discussed with respect to soil and pore fluid parameters where special attention is paid to the question of soil saturation conditions. The meaning of the results is also related to surface wave conditions. As a general conclusion, the practical, engineering recommendation is given in order to make a realistic, safe and economic estimation of the wave-induced uplift force acting on a buried submarine pipeline.     

An experimental study of seabed responses around a marine pipeline under wave and current conditions

Experiments on three types of soil (d₅₀=0.287, 0.057 and 0.034 mm) with pipeline(D=4 cm) either half buried or resting on the seabed under regular wave or combined with current actions were conducted in a large wave flume to investigate characteristics of soil responses. The pore pressures were measured through the soil depth and across the pipeline. When pipeline is present the measured pore pressures in sandy soil nearby the pipeline deviate considerably from that predicted by the poro-elasticity theory. The buried pipeline seems to provide a degree of resistance to soil liquefaction in the two finer soil seabeds. In the silt bed, a negative power relationship was found between maximum values of excess pore pressure p_max and test intervals under the same wave conditions due to soil densification and dissipation of the pore pressure. In the case of wave combined with current, pore pressures in sandy soil show slightly decrease with time, whereas in silt soil, the current causes an increase in the excess pore pressure build-up, especially at the deeper depth. Comparing liquefaction depth with scour depth underneath the pipeline indicates that the occurrence of liquefaction is accompanied with larger scour depth under the same pipeline-bed configuration.     

Current-induced scour around a vertical pile in cohesive soil

Stability of many ocean structures is affected by seabed scour induced by under-currents. The depth of scour is an important parameter for determining the minimum depth of foundations as it reduces the lateral capacity of the foundations. A review of the literature reveals that there is not much information available in the field of scour in cohesive soils. Hence, a detailed laboratory testing programme on model piles of diameters 50 mm to 110 mm embedded in soft silty clay soil was carried out in a wave flume of 30 m long, 2.0 m wide and 1.7 m deep, which has the capability of simulating steady currents. Scour around the pile due to steady streaming is monitored by using special instrumentation. A procedure has been suggested to predict the ultimate scour depths based on the observed variation in scour depth over a limited time period. The study indicates that the ultimate scour depth is controlled by diameter of obstruction, current velocity, model Reynolds number, flow Froude number, shear stress, and soil characteristics. Based on these results, a few functional relationships are suggested between scour depth and other parameters like Reynolds number, Froude number, and strength of the soil bed.     

Wave induced forces around buried pipelines

This work refers to an experimental investigation carried out to analyze wave induced pressures on a pipeline buried in a permeable seabed. In this investigation, the model tests were performed on a pipeline buried in the soil test bed. The wave flume used was 30 m long, 2 m wide and 1.7 m deep, 96 number of tests were conducted with waves generated for different wave heights. A pipeline 200 mm in diameter was buried in the sandy bed at different burial depth ratios. The pipeline was laid perpendicular to the wave direction, pressure was measured with 12 transducers along the outer circumference of the pipeline. The results show that wave induced pressures are significantly controlled by the wave period analyzed in terms of the scattering parameter (ka). Higher pressures were recorded at the top and the lower pressures were recorded at the bottom.     

舟山册子岛—宁波镇海海底原油管道冲刷的影响因素

局部冲刷引起裸露甚至悬空是造成管道失稳的主要原因之一。舟山册子岛—宁波镇海海底原油管道自2006年运行以来,其赋存状态由全线掩埋逐渐演变为局部裸露甚至悬空的严峻局面,并且有继续恶化的趋势。基于管道2006—2012年历年检测资料,从多个层面分析造成海底管道冲刷的原因,认为造成管道冲刷的基本条件是研究区的自然冲淤规律,极端天气条件、镇海侧的大型围垦工程、舟山连岛大桥建设、长江来沙减少等其他因素的叠加也不可小视。     

Prediction of wave-induced scour depth under submarine pipelines using machine learning approach

The scour around submarine pipelines may influence their stability; therefore scour prediction is a very important issue in submarine pipeline design. Several investigations have been conducted to develop a relationship between wave-induced scour depth under pipelines and the governing parameters. However, existing formulas do not always yield accurate results due to the complexity of the scour phenomenon. Recently, machine learning approaches such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have been used to increase the accuracy of the scour depth prediction. Nevertheless, they are not as transparent and easy to use as conventional formulas. In this study, the wave-induced scour was studied in both clear water and live bed conditions using the M5’ model tree as a novel soft computing method. The M5’ model is more transparent and can provide understandable formulas. To develop the models, several dimensionless parameter, such as gap to diameter ratio, Keulegan-Carpenter number and Shields number were used. The results show that the M5’ models increase the accuracy of the scour prediction and that the Shields number is very important in the clear water condition. Overall, the results illustrate that the developed formulas could serve as a valuable tool for the prediction of wave-induced scour depth under both live bed and clear water conditions.     

海流作用下海底管道局部冲刷数值分析

在任意拉格朗日-欧拉参考坐标系下,采用基于雷诺平均的Navier-Stokes方程组(RANS)、流线迎风有限元方法、泥沙输运模型以及底床变形方程,对海流引起的海底管道局部冲刷进行了数值模拟。着重讨论了均匀来流流速和海底管道直径对局部冲刷发展过程及平衡冲刷深度的影响作用。数值结果表明,在冲刷的初始阶段,冲刷深度随时间迅速增加,之后缓慢逼近极限平衡深度;在管径一定的情况下,管道附近的局部平衡冲刷深度与流速大致呈线性关系;当流速超过某一临界区域后,最大平衡冲刷深度出现的位置并不在管道正下方,而是随流速的增加向管道下游方向移动;另外,管道直径也会对平衡冲刷深度产生比较明显的影响,在相同流速下,平衡冲刷深度大致随管径呈线性增大。在本文的计算范围内,海底管道的相对局部平衡冲刷深度基本随雷诺数线性增加,但流速对冲刷深度的影响作用要比管径的影响作用更为明显。     

后挖沟深度对深海海底管道屈曲影响数值分析

鉴于海底管道的服役水深越来越深,主要采用犁式挖沟机对预铺设于海床之上的海底管道采取后挖沟的方式将海底管道埋设于海床之下,以保护其免受不必要的损伤。针对后挖沟深度H是海底挖沟机的重要设计参数,也是影响管道悬跨的重要因素的问题,对SMD(UK)犁式挖沟机展开参数优化,确保作业过程中悬跨段管道在外部静水压力作用下,海底管道不会发生屈曲破坏。采用ABAQUS软件,分别建立了作业前和作业中两种工况下的悬跨模型,分析机械手对接触部分管道的损伤,结果显示,作业中的机械手对悬跨管道的损伤更大;同时,建立了作业中不同管径下,后挖沟深度对管道损伤的安全裕量关系曲线。进一步,结合作业中不同挖沟深度下的管跨段屈曲数值模型,对处于外部静水压力作用下的悬跨管的屈曲失效展开分析,结果显示,随着后挖沟深度的加大,不同管径下的悬跨段管道局部出现塑性压溃的临界压力值不断降低;管道外径的增大,降低了同一后挖沟深度下发生屈曲失效的压力值。最后,在后挖沟深度与外部静水压力组成的区域内,建立屈曲失效临界关系曲线,并划分出工作区和压溃区,为深海管道后挖沟埋管的施工提供工程参考。     

带有柔性阻流器的海底管道冲刷防护试验研究

从管道尾流区泥沙颗粒的受力平衡着手,探讨了管道冲刷的临界压力差。在此基础上,提出了一种防止或减少管道冲刷的新方法,即在管道下方安装柔性阻流器。通过物理模型试验,研究了单向恒定流及规则波作用下,柔性阻流器对管道两侧床面压力、冲刷深度的影响。试验结果表明:柔性阻流器的安装能明显减小管道两侧床面的压力差。在单向恒定流作用下,管道的冲刷深度随阻流器长度的增加而减小;当阻流器达到临界长度时,冲刷消失。规则波时,因阻流器的扰动作用,冲刷深度有所增加;但随阻流器长度的增加,其扰动作用减小,对床面的防护作用增加,因而冲刷深度减小。     

Effect of Scour on the Behavior of Laterally Loaded Single Piles in Marine Clay

Most offshore and coastal structures are supported by pile foundations, which are subjected to large lateral loads due to wind, wave, and water currents. Water currents can induce scouring around piles that reduces lateral capacity and increases lateral deflection of a pile. Current design methods mostly consider the complete removal of soil layers around piles by scouring. In reality, however, scouring creates scour holes at different shapes, sizes, and depths. Their effects on the behavior of laterally loaded piles are not well investigated. A numerical model of a single pile in soft marine clay was first calibrated against field test data without scour. Then several key factors of scour were analyzed, such as the depth, width, and slope of the scour hole and the diameter and head fixity of the pile. The relationships of the ultimate lateral capacity of the single pile with the depth, width, and slope angle of the scour hole were obtained. The numerical results show that the scour depth had more significant influence on the pile lateral capacity than the scour width. In addition, the pile with a free head was more sensitive to scour than the pile with a fixed head.     

Sinking/floatation of pipelines and other objects in liquefied soil under waves

This paper presents the results of an experimental study where the sinking and floatation of a pipeline and other objects (namely, a sphere and a cube) in a silt bed was investigated. The bed was exposed to progressive waves. Two kinds of experiments were made: The undisturbed-flow experiments, and the experiments with the structure model (a pipeline, a sphere, and a cube). In the former experiments, the pore-water pressure was measured across the soil depth. The pore-water pressure built up, as the waves progressed. The soil was liquefied for wave heights larger than a critical value. Regarding the experiments with the structure model, the displacement of the structure (sinking or floatation) was measured simultaneously with the pore-water pressure. The influence of various parameters (such as the initial position of the object, the specific gravity, the soil layer thickness, and the wave height) was investigated. It was found that while the pipe sank in the soil to a depth of 2–3 times the pipe diameter, the sphere sank to even larger depths. The pipe with a relatively small specific gravity, initially buried, floated to the surface of the soil. The drag coefficients for the objects sinking in the liquefied soil were obtained.     

Shear strength of soil berm during lateral buckling of subsea pipelines

The soil resistance developed during temperature- and pressure-induced large lateral movements of shallowly embedded subsea flowlines is an important input parameter for the structural design process. A major source of uncertainty in calculation of the soil resistance is the undrained shear strength of the soil berm produced as the flowline moves across the seabed, which is affected by the level of remoulding. To investigate the effect of pipeline embedment and displacement amplitude on the shear strength of the berm, a set of centrifuge model tests was conducted on kaolin clay, involving laterally moving pipelines with constant embedments in the range 5%–35% of the pipe diameter. Back-analysis of the test results, using finite element limit analysis, showed that the shear strength of the soil berm is a function of pipe displacement amplitude, pipe embedment, and soil sensitivity. On the basis of these results, we propose that the overall berm undrained shear strength may be determined as a convolution of the shear strengths of its constituent soil elements. Finally, a formula is presented for calculating the shear strength of soil elements within the soil berm, and this is used to back-analyse the overall soil berm resistance from the model tests.     

Dynamic interaction between two parallel submarine pipelines considered vortex-induced vibration and local scour

Abstract

The mechanism of local scour under two vibrating pipelines is investigated numerically in this research. A sediment scour model is adopted to estimate the motion of sediment. The general moving objects model, which is dynamically coupled with fluid flow, is set up to simulate the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of the pipeline. The sediment scour model and pipeline vibration model are verified with the previous experimental results and show good agreement. Then, the coupling effects between the pipeline vibration and the local scour are investigated numerically. The effects of G/D (the ratio of the distance between the two pipelines to the diameter of the pipelines) on the local scour and the VIV of the pipeline are examined. The results indicate that the maximum scour depth under the vibrating pipelines is much larger than the scour depth under the fixed pipelines. Due to the shadowing effect of the upstream pipeline, the maximum scour depth under the upstream pipeline is deeper than that under the downstream pipeline. The pipeline vibration magnitude is closely related to the strength of the vortex that sheds behind the pipeline. The effect of G/D on the shape and strength of the vortices that shed behind the pipelines is significant.     

Three-dimensional poro-elastic integrated model for wave and current-induced oscillatory soil liquefaction around an offshore pipeline

To obtain a better understanding of the oscillatory soil liquefaction around an offshore pipeline, a three-dimensional integrated model for the wave–seabed–pipeline interaction (WSPI) is proposed by combining the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations for flow simulations and the dynamic Biot’s equation (“u-p” approximation) for the poro-elastic seabed model. Compared with previous investigations, the wave–current interaction is included in the present WSPI system. At a given time step, the wave pressure extracted from the flow model is applied on the seabed surface to determine the corresponding oscillatory seabed response around an offshore pipeline. The integrated numerical model is first validated using previous laboratory experiments. Then, a parametric study is conducted to examine the effects of flow obliquity and pipeline burial depth on the soil response around an offshore pipeline. Numerical results indicate that the soil under the pipeline is more susceptible to liquefaction at a reduced flow obliquity and pipeline burial depth. Moreover, the liquefaction depth in the case where the wave travels along the current can increase by 10%–30% compared to that in the case where the wave travels against the current, when the magnitude of the current velocity is 1 m/s.