Assessment of VIV Induced Fatigue in Long Free Spanning Pipelines
Current design practice for free spanning pipelines is to allow free spans as long as the integrity with respect to potential failure modes are checked and found acceptable. The case study for Ormen Lange (OL) pipelines planned in the deep waters of the Norwegian Sea is associated with a large number of very long free spans, which requires significant intervention work if based on the state-of-practice acceptance criteria. The design philosophy of the state-of-the-art design code DNV-RP-F105 “Free Spanning Pipelines” is applied in combination with the experience gained from dedicated OL model tests. Updated project specific design guidelines with multi-mode behavior, typical for OL long free spans, is taken into account and an updated Cross-Flow (CF) response model has been developed. An approach to select the In-Line (IL) mode excited by CF response is suggested. Methods for combining stresses from multiple active modes have been proposed and tested, for both IL and CF Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV). Fatigue analysis has also been performed on the stress series measured in the model tests and this has been successfully used to verify and validate the presented computational procedure. Uncertainty in the model test based fatigue estimates has been assessed and sensitivity studies have been carried out. Reasons for deviations and potential problem areas for long free spanning pipelines have been identified.