Research Studies on Modeling Soil Erosion Caused by External Factors Near Offshore Structures

Author(s):  
Leonid G. Shchemelinin ◽  
Kirill E. Sazonov ◽  
Valeriy I. Denisov

For development of hydrocarbon deposits located in a shallow part of coastal shelf, offshore structures of gravitational type are widely used. The foundations of such structures are towed to sites where they are flooded and installed directly on sea bed. During operation of offshore structures the sea bed soil around and beneath the structure foundations are exposed to external effects such as sea currents, waves and also propeller streams generated by ships approaching the structures. As a result the soil is washed out from under the structure which may cause reduction of bearing surface area and even lead to loss of stability of the structure on seabed. The model studies on soil erosion process near foundations of gravitational-type offshore platforms have been conducted at Krylov’s shallow water towing tank since 2000. This towing tank was not originally intended for such experiments, and, therefore, special experimental equipment has been developed for this purpose. These include a sandy bottom, current generation arrangements in the model test zone, instrumentation for measuring the bottom profile. Also specific model test procedures and methods for research on soil scour near the test objects have been developed and verified. The paper gives a review of these research studies at the Krylov Centre, describe the test equipment, modeling techniques and test data scaling procedures as well as the experience learned from the experiments. The paper gives some results of research studies of soil erosion near the foundations of offshore structures as a result of influence from sea currents and waves with coincident directions, and also as a result of influence from propeller streams of moored tankers and supply vessels. The paper presents the model test results regarding the efficiency of a mobile system developed for soil erosion protection near the offshore structure intended for exploratory drilling in shallow waters of the Gulf of Ob in the Kara Sea. A review of the recent Krylov’s studies in this field of research is given.

Author(s):  
Syed Danish Hasan ◽  
Nazrul Islam ◽  
Khalid Moin

The response of offshore structures under seismic excitation in deep water conditions is an extremely complex phenomenon. Under such harsh environmental conditions, special offshore structures called articulated structures are feasible owing to reduced structural weight. Whereas, conventional offshore structure requires huge physical dimensions to meet the desired strength and stability criteria, therefore, are uneconomical. Articulated offshore towers are among the compliant offshore structures. These structures consist of a ballast chamber near the bottom hinge and a buoyancy chamber just below the mean sea level, imparting controlled movement against the environmental loads (wave, currents, and wind/earthquake). The present study deals with the seismic compliance of a double-hinged articulated offshore tower to three real earthquakes by solving the governing equations of motion in time domain using Newmark’s-β technique. For this purpose Elcentro 1940, Taft 1952 and Northridge 1994 earthquake time histories are considered. The tower is modeled as an upright flexible pendulum supported to the sea-bed by a mass-less rotational spring of zero stiffness while the top of it rigidly supports a deck in the air (a concentrated mass above water level). The computation of seismic and hydrodynamic loads are performed by dividing the tower into finite elements with masses lumped at the nodes. The earthquake response is carried out by random vibration analysis, in which, seismic excitations are assumed to be a broadband stationary process. Effects of horizontal ground motions are considered in the present study. Monte Carlo simulation technique is used to model long crested random wave forces. Effect of sea-bed shaking on hydrodynamic modeling is considered. The dynamic equation of motion is formulated using Lagrangian approach, which is based on energy principle. Nonlinearities due to variable submergence and buoyancy, added mass associated with the geometrical non-linearities of the system are considered. The results are expressed in the form of time-histories and PSDFs of deck displacement, rotational angle, base and hinge shear, and the bending moment. The outcome of the response establishes that seismic sea environment is an important design consideration for successful performance of hinges, particularly, if these structures are situated in seismically active zones of the world’s ocean.


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bert Sweetman

Two new methods are proposed to predict airgap demand. Airgap demand is the maximum expected increase in the water surface elevation caused incident waves interacting with an offshore structure. The first new method enables inclusion of some second-order effects, though it is based on only first-order diffraction results. The method is simple enough to be practical for use as a hand-calculation in the early stages of design. Two existing methods of predicting airgap demand based on first-order diffraction are also briefly presented and results from the three methods are compared with model test results. All three methods yield results superior to those based on conventional post-processing of first-order diffraction results, and comparable to optimal post-processing of second-order diffraction results. A second new method is also presented; it combines extreme value theory with statistical regression to predict extreme airgap events using model test data. Estimates of extreme airgap events based on this method are found to be more reliable than estimates based on extreme observations from a single model test. This second new method is suitable for use in the final stages of design.


Author(s):  
Arne Gu¨rtner ◽  
Joachim Berger

The development of oil and gas fields in shallow icy waters, for instance in the Northern Caspian Sea, have increased the awareness of protecting offshore structures by means of ice barriers from the impacts of drifting ice. Protection could be provided by Ice Protection Piles (IPPs), installed in close vicinity to the offshore structure to be protected. Piles then take the main loads from the drifting ice by pre-fracturing the advancing ice sheet. Hence, the partly shielded offshore structure could be designed according to significant lower global design ice loads. In this regard, various configurations of pile arrangements have been model tested during the MATRA-OSE research project in the Ice Model Test Basin of the Hamburg Sip Model Basin (HSVA). The main objective was to analyse the behaviour of ice interactions with the protection piles together with the establishment of design ice loads on an individual pile within the pile arrangement. The pile to pile distances within each arrangement were varied from 2 to 8 times the pile diameter for both, vertical and inclined (30° to the horizontal) pile arrangements. Two test runs with 0.1 m and 0.5 m thick ice (full scale values) were conducted respectively. The full scale water depth was 4 m. Based on the model test observations, it was found that the rubble generation increases with decreasing pile to pile distances. Inclined piles were capable to produce more rubble than vertical piles and considerable lower ice loads were measured on inclined arrangements compared to vertical arrangements. As initial rubble has formed in front of the arrangements, the rubble effect accelerated considerable. Subsequent to the build-up of rubble accumulations, no effect of the pile inclination on the exerted ice loads could be observed. If piles are used as ice barriers, the distance between the piles should be less than 4D for inclined piles and 6D for vertical piles to allow sufficient rubble generation. Larger distances only generated significant ice rubble after initial grounding of the ice had occurred.


2014 ◽  
Vol 622-623 ◽  
pp. 322-329
Author(s):  
Kwang Soo Park ◽  
Sook Hwan Kim ◽  
Dong Kyu Kim

A jack-up rig or a self-elevating unit is a type of mobile platform that consists of a buoyant hull fitted with a number of movable legs, capable of raising its hull over the surface of the sea. The buoyant hull enables transportation of the unit and all attached machinery to a desired location. Once on location the hull is raised to the required elevation above the sea surface on its legs supported by the sea bed. The legs of such units may be designed to penetrate the sea bed, may be fitted with enlarged sections or footings, or may be attached to a bottom mat. Generally Jack up rigs are not self-propelled and rely on tugs or heavy lift shipsfor transportation. Formability problems in offshore structure construction where particularly high-strength steels are used for chords and racks. Attainment of mechanical properties is not usually difficult, although procedural trials are advisable. Fatigue cracking is probably the major cause of service failure of jack-up rigs, and the use of high-strength steels, which permits higher static stress limits, can exacerbate this problem. Roll forming process is one of the most widely used processes in the world for forming metals. It can manufacture goods of the uniform cross section throughout the continuous processing. However, process analysis is very difficult because of the inherent complexity. Therefore, it is time-consuming and much money is needed for manufacturing goods. In order to overcome this difficulty, a new computational method based on the rigid-plastic finite element method is developed for the analysis of roll forming process.


Author(s):  
Tianyu Wu ◽  
Wenliang Qiu

Sea ice crashing against offshore structures can cause strong ice-induced vibration and have a major impact on offshore structural safety and serviceability. This paper describes a numerical method for the prediction of ice-induced vibration when a vertical offshore structure is subjected to the impact of sea ice. In this approach, negative damping theory and fracture length theory are combined and, along with ice strength-stress rate curve and ice failure length, are coupled to model the internal fluctuating nature of ice load. Considering the elastic deformation of ice and the effect of non-simultaneous crushing failure of local contact between ice and structures, the present ice-induced vibration model is established, and the general features of the interaction process are captured. To verify its efficacy, the presented simulation methodology is subjected to a model test and two full-scale measurements based on referenced studies. Example calculations show good agreement with the results of the model test and full-scale measurements, which directly indicates the validity of the proposed simulation method. In addition, the numerical simulation method can be used in connection with FE programs to perform ice-induced vibration analysis of offshore structures.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iskendar Iskendar ◽  
Andi Jamaludin ◽  
Paulus Indiyono

This paper describes hydrodynamic model tests of Wing in Surface Effect (WiSE) Craft. These craft  was fitted with  stephull  form in different location on longitudinal flat bottom (stepedhull planning craft) to determine the influences of sticking and porpoising motion performances. These motions are usually occured when the craft start to take-off from water surfaces. The test models with scale of 1 : 7 were comprised of 4 (four) stephull models and 1 (one) non-stephull model  as a comparative study. The hydrodynamic  tests were performed with craft speed of 16 – 32 knots (prototype values) in Towing Tank at UPT. Balai Pengkajian dan Penelitian Hidrodinamika (BPPH), BPPT, Surabaya. The resistance (drag) was measured by dynamo meter and the trim of model (draft changing at fore and aft  of model due to model speed) was measured by trim meter. By knowing the value of model trim, the wetted surface area can be determined. Then, the lift forces were calculated based on these measured values. The model test results were presented on tables and curves.  Test results show that models  with step located far away from center of gravity of the WiSE craft tend to porpoising and sticking condition, except if the step location on the below of these center of gravity. While model without step tends to sticking conditions.


Author(s):  
Remmelt J. van der Wal ◽  
Gerrit de Boer

Offshore operations in open seas may be seriously affected by the weather. This can lead to a downtime during these operations. The question whether an offshore structure or dredger is able to operate in wind, waves and current is defined as “workability”. In recent decades improvements have been made in the hydrodynamic modelling of offshore structures and dredgers. However, the coupling of these hydrodynamic models with methods to analyse the actual workability for a given offshore operation is less developed. The present paper focuses on techniques to determine the workability (or downtime) in an accurate manner. Two different methods of determining the downtime are described in the paper. The first method is widely used in the industry: prediction of downtime on basis of wave scatter diagrams. The second method is less common but results in a much more reliable downtime estimate: determination of the ‘job duration’ on basis of scenario simulations. The analysis using wave scatter diagrams is simple: the downtime is expressed as a percentage of the time (occurrences) that a certain operation can not be carried out. This method can also be used for a combination of operations however using this approach does not take into account critical events. This can lead to a significant underprediction of the downtime. For the determination of the downtime on basis of scenario simulations long term seastate time records are used. By checking for each subsequent time step which operational mode is applicable and if this mode can be carried out the workability is determined. Past events and weather forecast are taken into account. The two different methods are compared and discussed for a simplified offloading operation from a Catenary Anchor Leg Mooring (CALM) buoy. The differences between the methods will be presented and recommendations for further applications are given.


Author(s):  
Andrew Cornett ◽  
Scott Baker

The objectives of this work are to close some of the knowledge gaps facing designers tasked with designing new offshore structures or upgrading older structures located in shallow waters and exposed to energetic multi-directional waves generated by passing hurricanes or cyclones. This will be accomplished by first investigating and characterizing the natural variability of the maximum wave heights and crest elevations found in multiple 2-hour long realizations of several short-crested shallow-water near-breaking seastates. Following this, the variability and repeatability of peak pressures and peak loads exerted on a 1/35 scale model of a gravity-based offshore structure are explored. The analysis focuses on establishing extreme value distributions for each realization, quantifying their variability, and exploring how the variability is diminished when results from multiple seastate realizations and repeated tests are combined. The importance of considering multiple realizations of a design wave condition when estimating peak values for use in design is investigated and highlighted.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/16bCsMd0OMc


Author(s):  
O. Gaidai ◽  
A. Naess

This paper presents different approaches for accounting for nonlinear effects in fatigue analysis. One approach is an application of the quadratic approximation method described in [3, 4] to the stochastic fatigue estimation of jacket type offshore structures. An alternative method proposed is based on a spectral approximation, and this approximation turns out to be quite accurate and computationally simple. The stress cycles causing structural fatigue are considered to be directly related to the horizontal excursions of the fixed offshore structure in random seas. Besides inertia forces, it is important to study the effect of the nonlinear Morison type drag forces. Since no direct method for dynamic analysis with Morison type forces is available, it is a goal to find an accurate approximation, allowing efficient dynamic analysis. This has implications for long term fatigue analysis, which is an important issue for design of offshore structures.


Author(s):  
Fei Duan ◽  
Zhiqiang Hu ◽  
Jin Wang

Wind power has great potential because of its clean and renewable production compared to the traditional power. Most of the present researches for floating wind turbine rely on the hydro-aero-elastic-servo simulation codes and have not been exhaustively validated yet. Thus, model tests are needed and make sense for its high credibility to master the kinetic characters of floating offshore structures. The characters of kinetic responses of the spar-type wind turbine are investigated through model test research technique. This paper describes the methodology for wind/wave model test that carried out at Deepwater Offshore Basin in Shanghai Jiao Tong University at a scale of 1:50. A Spar-type floater was selected to support the wind turbine in this test and the model blade was geometrically scaled down from the original NREL 5 MW reference wind turbine blade. The detail of the scaled model of wind turbine and the floating supporter, the test set-up configuration, the mooring system, the high-quality wind generator that can create required homogeneous and low turbulence wind, and the instrumentations to capture loads, accelerations and 6 DOF motions are described in detail, respectively. The isolated wind/wave effects and the integrated wind-wave effects on the floating wind turbine are analyzed, according to the test results.


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