Optimization of buoyancy of an articulated stinger on submerged pipelines laid with a barge

An analytical method is presented for finding the elastic deflection of submerged pipelines laid with an articulated stinger in which the buoyancy of each element is adjustable. The computer time required for the method is much less than that for the finite element method, so that optimization of the laying parameters can be performed in a large region using mathematical programming. A practical example shows the efficiency of the proposed method.