Full Coupled Effects of Hull, Mooring and Risers Model in Time Domain Based on an Innovative Deep Draft Multi-Spar

The coupled hull, mooring and riser analysis techniques in time domain are widely recognized as the unique approach to predict the accurate global motions. However, these complex issues have not been perfectly solved due to a large number of nonlinear factors, e.g. forces nonlinearity, mooring nonlinearity, motion nonlinearity and so on. This paper investigates the coupled effects through the numerical uncoupled model, mooring coupled model and fully coupled model accounting mooring and risers based on a novel deep draft multi-spar which is especially designed for deepwater in 2009. The numerical static-offset, free-decay, wind-action tests are executed, and finally the three hours simulations are conducted under 100-year return period of GOM conditions involving wave, wind and current actions. The damping contributions, response characteristics and mooring line tensions are emphatically studied.     

Fully Coupled Effects of Hull, Mooring and Risers Model in Time Domain Based on An Innovative Deep Draft Multi-Spar

The coupled hull, mooring and riser analysis techniques in time domain are widely recognized as the unique approach to predict the accurate global motions. However, these complex issues have not been perfectly solved due to a large number of nonlinear factors, e.g. forces nonlinearity, mooring nonlinearity, motion nonlinearity and so on. This paper investigates the coupled effects through the numerical uncoupled model, mooring coupled model and fully coupled model accounting mooring and risers based on a novel deep draft multi-spar which is especially designed for deepwater in 2009. The numerical static-offset, free-decay, wind-action tests are executed, and finally three hours simulations are conducted under 100-year return period of GOM conditions involving wave, wind and current actions. The damping contributions, response characteristics and mooring line tensions are emphatically studied.     

A hybrid time/frequency domain approach for efficient coupled analysis of vessel/mooring/riser dynamics

The dynamic analysis of a deepwater floating structure is complex due to dynamic coupling between the platform and the moorings/risers. Furthermore, the system response at the incident wave frequency and at the resonant low frequency is coupled due to geometric and hydrodynamic nonlinearities. As such, it is generally held that a fully coupled time-domain analysis should be used for an accurate prediction of the dynamic response. However, in a recent work, it is found that for an ultra-deepwater floating system, a fully coupled frequency-domain analysis can provide highly accurate response predictions. One reason is the accuracy of the drag linearization procedure over the motions at two time scales, another is the minimal geometric nonlinearity of the moorings/risers in deepwater. In this paper, the frequency-domain approach is investigated for intermediate water depths, and it is found that the accuracy reduces substantially as geometric nonlinearity becomes important. Therefore, a novel hybrid approach is developed, in which the low-frequency motion is simulated in the time domain while the wave frequency motion is solved in the frequency domain at regular intervals. Coupling between the two analyses is effected by the fact that (i) the low-frequency motion affects the line geometry for the wave frequency motion, and (ii) the wave frequency motion affects the modeling of the drag forces, which damp the low-frequency motion. The method is found to be nearly as accurate as fully coupled time domain analysis even for a system with a preponderance of nonlinear and coupling effects, but requiring only one-tenth of the computational effort.     

Reliability analysis of wake-induced collision of flexible risers

Collision between risers is an important design and operational concern, especially in deep water since the probability of collision tends to increase as the riser length increases. Riser collision is due to the joint effects of many processes, i.e. environmental loads, hydrodynamic interference and surface floater motions and the most of them are stochastic processes. This paper provides an approach for estimating the failure probability of riser collision by considering these joint effects and their stochastic nature. Firstly, a procedure for establishing the distribution function of the extreme minimum relative distance between two risers is introduced based on simulation tools and statistical data. Numerical simulation is performed to compute the minimum distance between risers for a given duration. Repeated simulations are applied so that the extreme value distribution can be established. Secondly, reliability analysis is performed by considering the uncertainties of input parameters related to environmental loads and riser system. The collision probability is calculated based on both the First/Second Order Reliability Method and the Monte Carlo simulation techniques.     

Centrifuge modelling of SCR vertical motion at touchdown zone

Steel catenary risers (SCR) connect seabed pipelines and flow lines to floating structures used for oil and gas production in deep waters. Waves and currents induce motions of the structure and the risers. The repeated motions of the risers at the touchdown zone in turn induce loads on the seabed soil and might eventually cause fatigue damage to the risers. The analysis of riser fatigue damage is heavily dependent on the soil model. Soil behaviour at touchdown zone such as soil remoulding, stiffness degradation and deformation of the seabed at the touchdown zone further complicate the accurate assessment of riser fatigue damage, which is currently not appropriately quantified in existing design methods. This paper presents centrifuge model tests simulating the repeated vertical movement of a length of riser on clay seabed with increasing undrained shear strength with depth. During the tests, the pipe was subject to cyclic motion over fixed vertical displacement amplitude from an invert embedment of 0.5-3.5 pipe diameters into the soil. The test results show a significant progressive degradation of soil strength and diminution of excess pore water pressure with increasing number of riser penetration/uplift cycle. In view of the different types of environment loadings experienced by floating platforms and various soil conditions, tests were also conducted to investigate the effect of soil strength, riser displacement rate and loading mode on riser-soil interaction during repetitive penetration/uplift motion of the riser.     

Enhanced Multi-Layer Fatigue-Analysis Approach for Unbonded Flexible Risers

This paper proposes an enhanced approach for evaluating the fatigue life of each metallic layer of unbonded flexible risers. Owing to the complex structure of unbonded flexible risers and the nonlinearity of the system, particularly in the critical touchdown zone, the traditional method is insufficient for accurately evaluating the fatigue life of these risers. The main challenge lies in the transposition from global to local analyses, which is a key stage for the fatigue analysis of flexible pipes owing to their complex structure. The new enhanced approach derives a multi-layer stress-decomposition method to meet this challenge. In this study, a numerical model validated experimentally is used to demonstrate the accuracy of the stress-decomposition method. And a numerical case is studied to validate the proposed approach. The results demonstrate that the multi-layer stress-decomposition method is accurate, and the fatigue lives of the metallic layers predicted by the enhanced multi-layer analysis approach are rational. The proposed fatigue-analysis approach provides a practical and reasonable method for predicting fatigue life in the design of unbonded flexible risers.     

Enhanced multi-layer fatigue-analysis approach for unbonded flexible risers

This paper proposes an enhanced approach for evaluating the fatigue life of each metallic layer of unbonded flexible risers. Owing to the complex structure of unbonded flexible risers and the nonlinearity of the system, particularly in the critical touchdown zone, the traditional method is insufficient for accurately evaluating the fatigue life of these risers. The main challenge lies in the transposition from global to local analyses, which is a key stage for the fatigue analysis of flexible pipes owing to their complex structure. The new enhanced approach derives a multi-layer stress-decomposition method to meet this challenge. In this study, a numerical model validated experimentally is used to demonstrate the accuracy of the stress-decomposition method. And a numerical case is studied to validate the proposed approach. The results demonstrate that the multi-layer stress-decomposition method is accurate, and the fatigue lives of the metallic layers predicted by the enhanced multi-layer analysis approach are rational. The proposed fatigue-analysis approach provides a practical and reasonable method for predicting fatigue life in the design of unbonded flexible risers.     

深海系泊系统动力特性研究进展

系泊系统设计是深海平台开发的关键问题之一。由于深海环境载荷和系泊材料物理特性及系缆构型影响,系泊系统分析涉及流固耦合非线性、非线性流体动力及整个系泊系统的运动稳定性。总结深海系泊系统关键理论和技术研究的前沿问题,包括系泊系统系缆建模、系泊系统耦合动力分析的理论和方法等,重点分析系泊系统非线性动力学问题的研究进展,并且提出了深海系泊系统需要深入研究的若干动力学问题。     

深水新型水下立管支撑平台研究

FPSO系统在深海海洋油气资源开发中扮演着重要的角色,而深水FPSO系统水下立管管路较长,立管整体重量较大,立管在水流作用下产生的涡激振动也较强,这些将给FPSO主船体带来严重的稳性、强度及疲劳问题。鉴于此,深海FPSO系统在油气资源开发过程中,须在水下一定深度设置若干水下软管支撑浮体,用以支撑来自深海海底的管线,减轻深水立管对FPSO的负载作用。随着深海资源开发的深入发展,传统水下软管支撑浮体作为FPSO系统的关键装备已经无法满足深海开采的需求,寻求大型化、深海化、生命周期长久化的新型水下立管支撑平台迫在眉睫,设计简便快捷、低风险的安装方法成为其开发过程中的重点和难点。详细描述了水下软管支撑浮体的产生及其发展历程,针对深海开发的需求提出了新型立管支撑平台的新概念,着重对新概念下下水安装更便捷的耐压立管支撑平台设计原理及其下水安装方式展开了分析,最后对水下软管支撑浮体和新型立管支撑平台的关键技术进行了总结,并提出了需进一步解决的问题。     

大长细比柔性杆件涡激振动实验

涡激振动(vortex-induced vibration,VIV)是导致深海细长柔性立管发生疲劳破坏的重要因素。采用实验观测手段研究了长细比为1 750的柔性立管多模态涡激振动特性。实验中,通过采用拖车拖拉立管模型在水池中匀速行进来模拟均匀流作用下的涡激振动响应。利用光纤光栅传感器测量立管模型在横流向(cross-flow,CF)和顺流向(in-line,IL)的应变,进而通过模态分解的方法,获得立管模型涡激振动的位移。在此基础上,研究了CF以及IL方向的响应频率、位移标准差的平均值和最大值等随流速的变化规律,并分析了立管模型上测点的运动轨迹及其影响因素。     

关于Boussinesq型水波方程理论和应用研究的综述

Boussinesq型方程是研究水波传播与演化问题的重要工具之一,本文就1967-2018年常用的Boussinesq型水波方程从理论推导和数值应用两个方面进行了回顾,以期推动该类方程在海岸(海洋)工程波浪水动力方向的深入研究和应用。此类方程推导主要从欧拉方程或Laplace方程出发。在一定的非线性和缓坡假设等条件下,国内外学者建立了多个Boussinesq型水波方程,并以Stokes波的相关理论为依据,考察了这些方程在相速度、群速度、线性变浅梯度、二阶非线性、三阶非线性、波幅离散、速度沿水深分布以及和(差)频等多方面性能的精度。将Boussinesq型水波方程分为水平二维和三维两大类,并对主要Boussinesq型水波方程的特性进行了评述。进而又对适合渗透地形和存在流体分层情况下的Boussinesq型水波方程进行了简述与评论。最后对这些方程的应用进行了总结与分析。     

Instability Assessment of Deep-Sea Risers Under Parametric Excitation

This study deals with the nonlinear dynamic response of deep-sea risers subjected to parametric excitation at the top of a platform.As offshore oil and gas exploration is pushed into deep waters,difficulties encountered in deep-sea riser design may be attributed to the existence of parametric instability regarding platform heave motions.Parametric resonance in risers can cause serious damage which might bring disastrous accidents such as environment pollution,property losses and even fatalities.Therefore,th...     

台阶型海脊俘获波的实验研究

基于物理模型实验研究瞬态冲击波在台阶地形上传播过程,揭示由于反射而在海脊上出现的波浪俘获现象。结果表明:在瞬态波产生区域附近,海脊上所测到的先导波即为最大波,其由泄漏至海脊外的深水波绕射至海脊所致。随着传播距离的增加,由于频散效应的影响,先导波逐渐减小,沿台阶近似直线传播的海脊俘获波和在台阶上曲折传播的海脊俘获波逐渐显现。在距离波浪产生较远区域所测的最大波晚于先导波出现,且这些由俘获波所叠加而成的最大波随着传播距离的增加而呈现出更加复杂的波面过程。     

Nonlinear wave–structure interactions with a high-order Boussinesq model

This paper describes the extension of a finite difference model based on a recently derived highly accurate Boussinesq formulation to include domains having arbitrary piecewise-rectangular bottom-mounted (surface-piercing) structures. The resulting linearized system is analyzed for stability on a structurally divided domain, and it is shown that exterior corner points pose potential stability problems, as well as other numerical difficulties. These are mainly due to the discretization of high-order mixed-derivative terms near these points, where the flow is theoretically singular. Fortunately, the system is receptive to dissipation, and these problems can be overcome in practice using high-order filtering techniques. The resulting model is verified through numerical simulations involving classical linear wave diffraction around a semi-infinite breakwater, linear and nonlinear gap diffraction, and highly nonlinear deep water wave run-up on a vertical plate. These cases demonstrate the applicability of the model over a wide range of water depth and nonlinearity.     

硬悬挂钻井隔水管涡激振动特性研究

针对深水钻井过程中遭遇强台风,基于安全性考虑要求钻井平台悬挂隔水管提前撤离的问题,采用软件SHEAR7针对HYSY981钻井平台硬悬挂隔水管系统避台风撤离作业过程中,受南海一年一遇海流作用时诱发涡激振动(VIV)的情况,研究航速与悬挂长度对VIV特性的影响。研究表明,浮力块覆盖率越高,隔水管系统张力越小;浮力块分布对隔水管系统VIV响应影响较大,25%交错布置方案VIV响应最弱。隔水管并非越短越好,要综合考虑洋流剖面、隔水管配置和平台航行的影响;在不同悬挂长度及航行条件下的VIV响应,在撤离作业前应尽量避免在高流速区布置浮力单根,撤离作业时应尽量采用顺流而避免平台逆流航向。     

An Experimental Study on Dynamics Features of Three Side-by-Side Flexible Risers Undergoing Vortex-Induced Vibrations in A Uniform Flow

A vortex-induced vibration(VIV) experiment on three side-by-side risers subjected to a uniform flow was carried out in a combined wave-current flume. The dynamic features of interference effect on three side-by-side risers were investigated by varying fluid velocity and inter-riser spacing. The distributions of dimensionless displacement,dominant frequency, and displacement trajectory of the model risers were measured using mode decomposition and wavelet transform techniques. The coupled interference of inter-riser fluid to adjacent risers at different spacings was disclosed by introducing the "interference ratio" concept. The results show that at spacings smaller than 6.0 D, the three model risers display appreciable deviations in their displacement responses in cross-flow or in-line direction,attributable to the strong proximity disturbance and wake interference between the risers. When the spacing is increased to 8.0 D, wake interference still makes great difference to the dynamic response of the risers in both directions. As reduced velocity increases, the three risers show higher agreement with an isolated riser in overall dominant vibration frequency in CF direction than that in IL direction at all spacings and the side risers, although symmetrically placed, do not vibrate symmetrically, as a result of the steady deflection of clearance flow within the riser group. Interference effect results in a remarkable unsteady mode competition within the risers; quantitation of the interference levels for the three risers at different spacings with interference ratio revealed that under low flow velocities and large spacing ratios, clearance flow constitutes a non-neglectable interferer for three side-by-side risers.     

Fully Nonlinear Boussinesq-Type Equations with Optimized Parameters for Water Wave Propagation

For simulating water wave propagation in coastal areas, various Boussinesq-type equations with improved properties in intermediate or deep water have been presented in the past several decades. How to choose proper Boussinesq-type equations has been a practical problem for engineers. In this paper, approaches of improving the characteristics of the equations, i.e. linear dispersion, shoaling gradient and nonlinearity, are reviewed and the advantages and disadvantages of several different Boussinesq-type equations are compared for the applications of these Boussinesq-type equations in coastal engineering with relatively large sea areas. Then for improving the properties of Boussinesq-type equations, a new set of fully nonlinear Boussinseq-type equations with modified representative velocity are derived, which can be used for better linear dispersion and nonlinearity. Based on the method of minimizing the overall error in different ranges of applications, sets of parameters are determined with optimized linear dispersion, linear shoaling and nonlinearity, respectively. Finally, a test example is given for validating the results of this study. Both results show that the equations with optimized parameters display better characteristics than the ones obtained by matching with padé approximation.     

Spar平台与刚性立管及浮力罐耦合动力研究综述

Spar平台是深水和超深水海域中极具竞争力的平台类型。Spar平台中刚性立管顶端所需的张力由月池内部的浮力罐提供,浮力罐在水平方向由导向架支撑。平台运动过程中,浮力罐及立管与平台主体发生相对运动和相互动力作用,在水平方向上发生带有空隙效应的碰撞现象,在垂向产生库仑摩擦效应。这是一种复杂的非线性多点接触耦合动力现象,对平台主体和浮力罐的运动及性能都有着重要影响。因此,无论从平台主体设计及水动力性能方面,还是从浮力罐疲劳分析及安全性方面考虑,都有必要对Spar平台与浮力罐之间的耦合动力作用进行深入的研究。在介绍目前国际上Spar平台与浮力罐相关研究情况及进展的基础上,提出了今后研究的有关建议。     

A finite differences formulation for the linear and nonlinear dynamics of 2D catenary risers

A finite differences (FD) solution method is proposed for the numerical treatment of the dynamic equilibrium problem of 2D catenary risers. The method is based on the so-called Box approximation, which in the scope of the present contribution is applied to the complete nonlinear model as well as to the reduced linearized formulation. The application of the Box method transforms the original governing systems into convenient sets of algebraic equations, which in turn are solved efficiently by the relaxation method. Extensive numerical calculations are presented that describe the dynamic behaviour of the structure and evaluate the amplification in loading due to the dynamic components. The effect of the geometric nonlinearities is assessed through comparative calculations that concern both mathematical formulations examined in the present, i.e. the complete nonlinear, and the reduced linearized model. Special attention is paid to the heave excitations as they amplify significantly the magnitudes of the loading components.     

深海立管相互碰撞的响应面法研究

针对深海立管在理想环境和外部水环境中发生碰撞的情况,从立管碰撞最大径向位移和应力峰值两方面展开研究,充分利用ABAQUS仿真得到的数据,基于数值模拟和回归分析,提出四因素三水平的立管碰撞响应面分析方法。采用Design-Expert软件的BOX设计,对立管的非线性碰撞过程中的碰撞应力峰值和最大径向位移等两个试验指标进行回归分析并分别建立二次响应面回归模型。通过将响应面分析所得最优化解与有限元计算结果的对比,最终验证了响应面分析方法及所得模型的准确性。