A Physical and Numerical Modeling for Launching of Jackets: Case Study on Balal PLQ Platform

Author(s):  
M. R. Honarvar ◽  
Moharram D. Pirooz ◽  
Mohammad R. Bahari

Platform structures are commonly utilized for various purposes including offshore drilling, processing and support of offshore operations. A jacket is a supporting structure for deck facilities stabilized by leg piles through the seabed. In a jacket design, operational and environmental loads are very important and must be investigated intensively to secure the stability of structures during their operational life, as well as installation phase. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate and compare the results of physical and numerical modeling for the launch operation of jackets from barge into the sea, as the most hazardous stage in the installation of a platform. Both physical & numerical modeling basics are described and they are performed on Balal PLQ (Production and Living Quarter) platform that is one 8-legged, 1700-tone main jacket of Balal oil field, located in the center of Persian Gulf, some 100 kms distance from Iranian Lavan Island. It is found that both methods can describe the motion of the barge similarly well, but some differences are traced in the motion of jacket. Then, the inequalities are evaluated to be due to the Froude-type parameters chosen for modeling purpose. The most important result achieved in this research is the necessity of choosing Reinolds-Froude type for physical modeling of launching, instead of Froude-type. This is due to the effect of viscosity in drag hydrodynamic force in addition to the importance of gravitational and inertial forces. It should be noted that viscosity and consequently drag coefficient in Froude type modeling is not quite correct and causes the difference between the results of physical and numerical modeling. To our knowledge, based on the surveyed done in the literature, although there was no results found on the physical modeling of jacket launch to be addressed, but it seems that Reynolds-Froude modeling could be done either in a centrifuge test or by using a fluid with lower viscosity dependent on the scale of model.

Author(s):  
M. R. Honarvar ◽  
Moharam D. Pirooz ◽  
Mohammad R. Bahaari

Platform structures are commonly utilized for various purposes including offshore drilling, processing, and support of offshore operations. A jacket is a supporting structure for deck facilities, stabilized by piles driven through it to the seabed. In a jacket design, operational and environmental loads are very important and must be intensively investigated to secure the stability of structures during their service life, as well as installation phase. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate the results of physical modeling for the launch operation of jackets from barge into the sea, as the most hazardous stage in the installation of a platform, and compare them to those of numerical modeling. Both physical and numerical modeling parameters are described and they are examined on a prototype platform, i.e., Balal oil field production and living quarter platform that is a 1700 tone, eight-legged jacket located in the center of Persian Gulf, some 100km distance from Iranian Lavan Island. It is found that both numerical and physical methods can describe the motion of the barge similarly well, but some differences are traced in the motion of jacket. The inequalities are, then, appeared to be due to the Froude-type parameters applied for modeling purpose. One notable fact investigated in this research is the necessity for choosing Reynolds–Froude type in the physical modeling of the launch, instead of Froude type. This is because, in addition to the importance of gravitational and inertial forces, the viscosity affects the drag hydrodynamic force, as well. It should be noted that viscosity and consequently drag coefficient in Froude type modeling cannot be quite applicable and this causes the difference observed between the results of physical and numerical modeling. Although there have been so many jacket launching designed and probably their physical models have been tested, but to the best of our knowledge from the literature, there was found no study on Reynolds–Froude physical modeling of jacket launch phenomenon. If one is interested in practicing a Reynolds-Froude physical modeling, it could be done either in a centrifuge test or by using a fluid with lower viscosity dependent on the scale of model, or even by finding a fluid (with new viscosity and new density) and a new gravity to have simultaneously the Froude and the Reynolds similarity laws satisfied.


Complexity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Xiaoli Tian ◽  
Meiling Niu ◽  
Jiangshui Ma ◽  
Zeshui Xu

TODIM is a well-known multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) which considers the bounded rationality of decision makers (DMs) based on prospect theory (PT). However, in the classical TODIM, the perceived probability weighting function and the difference of the risk attitudes for gains and losses are not consistent with the original idea of PT. Moreover, probabilistic hesitant fuzzy information shows its superiority in handling the situation that the DMs hesitate among several possible values with different possibilities. Hence, a novel TODIM with probabilistic hesitant fuzzy information is proposed in this paper to simulate the perceptions of the DMs in PT. To show the advantages of the proposed method, a novel TODIM is combined with hesitant fuzzy information. Finally, a case study is carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method, and a series of comparative analyses and the sensitivity analyses are used to show the stability of the proposed method.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Diana Bardhi

The scope of this study was to compare various stability evaluation methods. Accordingly, most common LE approaches were compared with the advanced LE (M‐P) method. Similarly, the differences in FOS computed from LE and FE analyses were compared based on a simple slope considering various load cases. In addition, two real slopes in a case study were analysed for the recorded minimum‐maximum GWT, pseudo‐static and dynamic conditions. Moreover, the stability evaluations of these slopes were based on both LE (M‐P) and FE (PLAXIS) calculation approaches, which both utilized shear strength parameters from advanced triaxle tests. Similarly, Mohr‐Coulomb model was applied in both approaches. The following conclusions are hence derived based on the reported work on both idealized and real slopes. To fulfil one of the aims of the study, the LE based methods are compared based on the factor of safety (FOS) obtained for various load combinations. The comparison is mainly based on simplified slope geometry and assumed input parameters. Among the LE methods, the Bishop simplified (BS), Janbu simplified (JS) and Janbu GPS methods are compared with the Morgenstern‐Price method (M‐PM). These LE methods are well established for many years, and thus some of them are still commonly used in practice for stability analysis. Moreover, the M‐PM has been compared with results from the FE analyses. Compared with theFE (PLAXIS) analyses, the LE (M‐PM) analyses may estimate 5 – 14percent higher FOS, depending on the conditions of a dry slope and a fully saturated slope with hydrostatic pore pressure distributions. For fully saturated conditions in the slope, inaccurate computation of stresses in LE methods may have resulted in larger difference in the computed FOS. Since, the FE software is based on stress‐strain relationship, stress redistributions are surely better computed even for a complicated problem. This has been found one of the advantages in FE simulations. A parameter study shows that the application of a positive dilatancy angle in FE analysis can significantly improve the FOS (4 ‐ 10percent). On contrast, the shear surface optimization in LE (M‐PM in SLOPE/W) analysis results in lower FOS, and thus minimizing the difference in FOS compared with FE analysis


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
FuZhou Qi ◽  
ZhanGuo Ma ◽  
Ning Li ◽  
Bin Li ◽  
Zhiliu Wang ◽  
...  

The width design of protective pillars is an important factor affecting the stability of high-stress roadways. In this study, a novel numerical modeling approach was developed to investigate the relationship between protective pillar width and roadway stability. With the 20 m protective pillar width adopted in the field test, large deformation of roadways and serious damage to surrounding rocks occurred. According to the case study at the Wangzhuang coal mine in China, the stress changes and energy density distribution characteristics in protective pillars with various widths were analysed by numerical simulation. The modeling results indicate that, with a 20 m wide protective pillar, the peak vertical stress and energy density in the pillar are 18.5 MPa and 563.7 kJ/m3, respectively. The phenomena of stress concentration and energy accumulation were clearly observed in the simulation results, and the roadway is in a state of high stress. Under the condition of a 10 m wide protective pillar, the peak vertical stress and energy density are shifted from the pillar to roadway virgin coal region, with peak values of 9.5 MPa and 208.3 kJ/m3, respectively. The decrease in vertical stress and energy density improves the stability of the protective pillar, resulting in the roadway being in a state of low stress. Field monitoring suggested that the proposed 10 m protective pillar width can effectively control the large deformation of the surrounding rock and reduce coal bump risk. The novel numerical modeling approach and design principle of protective pillars presented in this paper can provide useful references for application in similar coal mines.


2010 ◽  
Vol 163-167 ◽  
pp. 79-84
Author(s):  
Qiu Zhao ◽  
Chen Xu

A certain project of tri-tower suspension bridge of which the main span was 1080m was taken as a case study of the mid tower stability. A 3D beam FEM model has been carried out to investigate the global mechanical behavior of the bridge in which the internal force response to several different typical load cases were specifically concerned. Moreover, the cable spring stiffness to the mid tower was defined as the ratio of the initial horizontal forces acting on the top end of mid tower to the corresponding horizontal displacement. And the effect of this equivalent spring stiffness on the stability performance of the mid tower was compared to other tow constraint conditions to the tower including free constraint and pin constraint. The comparison showed that the cable equivalent stiffness was 4342kN/m when living load was acting along the whole main girder of the bridge while this value varied with different load cases. The difference between the effect caused by the cable spring stiffness and the free constraint was small indicating that the stability of the mid tower was not sensitive to the cable constraint. In addition, with the increase of the equivalent spring stiffness, the longitudinal buckling eigenvalue also became larger and gradually approached the condition of pin constraint.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-97
Author(s):  
Kalyan Paudyal

After excavation, insitu stress conditions are changed which lead deformation due to the stress concentration. For the stability in the excavated tunnel profile, appropriate support system is essential. To recommend the support system, site specific data are used from Higher Himalayan Region of Nepal. Study is focused on 3 m and 6 m size inverted D Shaped tunnel with three different overburden thickness. For the analysis of support system: Empirical method, Analytical method and Numerical Modeling are performed. Result obtained from the different approaches for three different overburden heights as well as for both size tunnels are compared and finally required support system is recommended. It was found significant change in deformations while increase in size of tunnel. Overburden thickness is also playing the vital role in this parameter but size effect is more prominent.


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