Towards a Time-Domain Finite Element Analysis of Vortex Induced Vibrations

Author(s):  
Philippe Mainc¸on ◽  
Carl M. Larsen

Slender structures immersed in a cross flow can experience vibrations induced by vortex shedding (VIV), which cause fatigue damage and other problems. Engineering VIV models tend to operate in the frequency domain. A time domain model would allow to capture effects beyond the scope of today’s frequency domain empirical codes: interaction between in-line and cross-flow vibrations, higher order frequency components, structural non-linearities, simultaneous actions from other loads like waves and forced motions at boundaries. There is also the potential to capture the chaotic nature of VIV. Such a model was formulated in the present work: for each cross section and at each time step, the recent velocity history is described as a combination of Laguerre polynomials. The coefficients of that combination are used to enter an interpolation function to predict the instantaneous force, allowing to step the dynamic analysis. An offshore riser was modeled in this way: Some analyses provided an unusually fine level of realism, while in other analyses, the riser fell into an unphysical pattern of vibration. It is concluded that the concept is very promising, yet that more work is needed to understand trajectory stability and related issues, in order to further progress towards an engineering tool.

Author(s):  
Sang Woo Kim ◽  
Svein Sævik ◽  
Jie Wu

Abstract This paper addresses the performance evaluation of an empirical time domain Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV) model which has been developed for several years at NTNU. Unlike the frequency domain which is the existing VIV analysis method, the time domain model introduces new vortex shedding force terms to the well known Morison equation. The extra load terms are based on the relative velocity, a synchronization model and additional empirical coefficients that describe the hydrodynamic forces due to cross-flow (CF) and In-line (IL) vortex shedding. These hydrodynamic coefficients have been tuned to fit experimental data and by considering the results from the one of existing frequency domain VIV programs, VIVANA, which is widely used for industrial design. The feature of the time domain model is that it enables to include the structural non-linearity, such as variable tension, and time-varying flow. The robustness of the new model’s features has been validated by comparing the test results in previous researches. However, the riser used in experiments has a relatively small length/diameter (L/D) ratio. It implies that there is a need for more validation to make it applicable to real riser design. In this study, the time domain VIV model is applied to perform correlation studies against the Hanøytangen experiment data for the case of linear sheared current at a large L/D ratio. The main comparison has been made with respect to the maximum fatigue damage and dominating frequency for each test condition. The results show the time domain model showed reasonable accuracy with respect to the experimental and VIVANA. The discrepancy with regard to experiment results needs to be further studied with a non-linear structural model.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Mainçon

Slender structures immersed in a cross flow can experience vibrations induced by vortex shedding (VIV), which cause fatigue damage and other problems. VIV models that are used in structural design today tend to assume harmonic oscillations in some way or other. A time domain model would allow to capture the chaotic nature of VIV and to model interactions with other loads and nonlinearities. Such a model was developed in the present work: for each cross section, recent velocity history is compressed using Laguerre polynomials. The compressed information is used to enter an interpolation function to predict the instantaneous force, allowing to step the dynamic analysis. An offshore riser was modeled in this way: some analyses provided an unusually fine level of realism, while in other analyses, the riser fell into an unphysical pattern of vibration. It is concluded that the concept is promising, yet that more work is needed to understand orbit stability and related issues, in order to produce an engineering tool.


Author(s):  
Jan V. Ulveseter ◽  
Svein Sævik ◽  
Carl M. Larsen

A promising time domain model for calculation of cross-flow vortex induced vibrations (VIV) is under development at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Time domain, as oppose to frequency domain, makes it possible to include non-linearities in the structural model. Pipelines that rest on an irregular seabed will experience free spans. In these areas VIV is a concern with respect to the fatigue life. In this paper, a time domain model for calculation of VIV on free spanning pipelines is proposed. The model has non-linear interaction properties consisting of discrete soil dampers and soil springs turning on or off depending on the pipeline response. The non-linear model is compared to two linear models with linear stiffness and damping properties. One linear model is based on the promising time domain VIV model, while the other one is based on RIFLEX and VIVANA, which calculates VIV in frequency domain. Through four case studies the effect of seabed geometry, current velocity and varying soil damping and soil stiffness is investigated for a specific pipeline. The results show that there is good agreement between the results produced by VIVANA and the linear model. The non-linear model predicts smaller stresses at the pipe shoulders, which is positive for the life time estimations. Soil damping does not influence the response significantly.


Author(s):  
Carl M. Larsen ◽  
Elizabeth Passano

Catenary risers in deep waters will experience conditions with insignificant wave forces in combination with strong current. The response will in such cases be dominated by vortex induced vibrations (VIV). Dynamic bending stresses will vary along the riser, but a large peak will almost always be seen near the touch down point. This peak is caused by the restrictions on riser displacements from the presence of the seafloor, and the local bending stresses will be influenced by stiffness and damping propertoes of the bottom. Analysis models based on finite elements will represent the interaction between riser and seafloor by discrete springs, which for the linear case will remain constant independent of the displacements. This type of model may give a significant over-prediction of bending stresses at the touch down point since a linear spring will give tensile forces instead of being released and allowing the pipe to lift off from the bottom. A non-linear time domain model will, however, account for changes by releasing springs if tension occurs and adding in new springs if free nodes obtain temporary contact with the bottom. The results will hence become far more realistic. Traditional empirical models for VIV prediction are based on a frequency domain dynamic analysis with constant stiffness. There is hence an obvious need for improvements when dealing with catenary risers. This paper will describe a new approach that is based on combined use of an empirical linear frequency domain model for VIV, and a non-linear model for time domain analysis. The first step is to carry out the VIV analysis according to linear response theory, and next introduce the calculated hydrodynamic forces to the non-linear structural model. The benefit from using the non-linear model is that stresses in the touch down area are described more accurately. A case study is also reported. Bottom stiffness and friction are varied, and results are compared to a simple model with a hinge at the touch down point. The conclusion is that the interaction between riser and seafloor is crucial for accurate stress prediction, and that a non-linear time domain model will give the most accurate result.


Author(s):  
Fabien Bigot ◽  
François-Xavier Sireta ◽  
Eric Baudin ◽  
Quentin Derbanne ◽  
Etienne Tiphine ◽  
...  

Ship transport is growing up rapidly, leading to ships size increase, and particularly for container ships. The last generation of Container Ship is now called Ultra Large Container Ship (ULCS). Due to their increasing sizes they are more flexible and more prone to wave induced vibrations of their hull girder: springing and whipping. The subsequent increase of the structure fatigue damage needs to be evaluated at the design stage, thus pushing the development of hydro-elastic simulation models. Spectral fatigue analysis including the first order springing can be done at a reasonable computational cost since the coupling between the sea-keeping and the Finite Element Method (FEM) structural analysis is performed in frequency domain. On the opposite, the simulation of non-linear phenomena (Non linear springing, whipping) has to be done in time domain, which dramatically increases the computation cost. In the context of ULCS, because of hull girder torsion and structural discontinuities, the hot spot stress time series that are required for fatigue analysis cannot be simply obtained from the hull girder loads in way of the detail. On the other hand, the computation cost to perform a FEM analysis at each time step is too high, so alternative solutions are necessary. In this paper a new solution is proposed, that is derived from a method for the efficient conversion of full scale strain measurements into internal loads. In this context, the process is reversed so that the stresses in the structural details are derived from the internal loads computed by the sea-keeping program. First, a base of distortion modes is built using a structural model of the ship. An original method to build this base using the structural response to wave loading is proposed. Then a conversion matrix is used to project the computed internal loads values on the distortion modes base, and the hot spot stresses are obtained by recombination of their modal values. The Moore-Penrose pseudo-inverse is used to minimize the error. In a first step, the conversion procedure is established and validated using the frequency domain hydro-structure model of a ULCS. Then the method is applied to a non-linear time domain simulation for which the structural response has actually been computed at each time step in order to have a reference stress signal, in order to prove its efficiency.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Decao Yin

Abstract Deepwater steel lazy wave risers (SLWR) subject to vessel motion will be exposed to time-varying oscillatory flow, vortices could be generated and the cyclic vortex shedding force causes the structure vibrate, such fluid-structure interaction is called vortex-induced vibrations (VIV). To investigate VIV on a riser with non-linear structures under vessel motion and oscillatory flows, time domain approaches are needed. In this study, a time-domain approach is used to simulate a full-scale SLWR. Two cases with simplified riser top motions are simulated numerically. By using default input parameters to the time domain approach, the key oscillatory flow induced VIV response characteristics such as response frequency, curvature and displacements are examined and discussed. More accurate VIV prediction could be achieved by using realistic hydrodynamic inputs into the time domain model.


Author(s):  
Michał Lewandowski ◽  
Janusz Walczak

Purpose – A highly accurate method of current spectrum estimation of a nonlinear load is presented in this paper. Using the method makes it possible to evaluate the current injection frequency domain model of a nonlinear load from previously recorded time domain voltage and current waveforms. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The method incorporates the idea of coherent resampling (resampling synchronously with the base frequency of the signal) followed by the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) to obtain the frequency spectrum. When DFT is applied to a synchronously resampled signal, the spectrum is free of negative DFT effects (the spectrum leakage, for example). However, to resample the signal correctly it is necessary to know its base frequency with high accuracy. To estimate the base frequency, the first-order Prony's frequency estimator was used. Findings – It has been shown that the presented method may lead to superior results in comparison with window interpolated Fourier transform and time-domain quasi-synchronous sampling algorithms. Research limitations/implications – The method was designed for steady-state analysis in the frequency domain. The voltage and current waveforms across load terminals should be recorded simultaneously to allow correct voltage/current phase shift estimation. Practical implications – The proposed method can be used in case when the frequency domain model of a nonlinear load is desired and the voltage and current waveforms recorded across load terminals are available. The method leads to correct results even when the voltage/current sampling frequency has not been synchronized with the base frequency of the signal. It can be used for off-line frequency model estimation as well as in real-time DSP systems to restore coherent sampling of the analysed signals. Originality/value – The method proposed in the paper allows to estimate a nonlinear load frequency domain model from current and voltage waveforms with higher accuracy than other competitive methods, while at the same time its simplicity and computational efficiency is retained.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document