Experimental Study on Vortex-Induced Vibration of Rough Risers with Coupling Interference Effect Under Side-by-Side Arrangement

A vortex-induced vibration(VIV)experiment of rough risers with coupling interference effect under a side-by-side arrangement was carried out in a wave-current combined flume.The roughness of the riser was characterized by arranging different specifications of surface attachments on the surface of the riser.Rough risers with three different roughnesses were arranged side by side with smooth risers to explore the VIV response of the riser under the combined action of roughness and interference effect,and to reveal the coupling mechanism between roughness and interference effect.The experimental results show that,compared with that of a smooth riser,the VIV of a rough riser under the coupling interference effect has a wider"lock-in"region,and the displacement decreases more significantly at a high reduced velocity,which is more likely to excite higher-order modes and frequency responses.In addition,the displacement response and frequency response of the smooth riser are not significantly affected by wake interference from the rough riser,which is caused by the decrease of the wake region due to the delay of the boundary layer separation point of the rough riser.

Sparse Modal Decomposition Method Addressing Underdetermined Vortex-Induced Vibration Reconstruction Problem for Marine Risers

When investigating the vortex-induced vibration(VIV)of marine risers,extrapolating the dynamic response on the entire length based on limited sensor measurements is a crucial step in both laboratory experiments and fatigue monitoring of real risers.The problem is conventionally solved using the modal decomposition method,based on the principle that the response can be approximated by a weighted sum of limited vibration modes.However,the method is not valid when the problem is underdetermined,i.e.,the number of unknown mode weights is more than the number of known measurements.This study proposed a sparse modal decomposition method based on the compressed sensing theory and the Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit(Co Sa MP)algorithm,exploiting the sparsity of VIV in the modal space.In the validation study based on high-order VIV experiment data,the proposed method successfully reconstructed the response using only seven acceleration measurements when the conventional methods failed.A primary advantage of the proposed method is that it offers a completely data-driven approach for the underdetermined VIV reconstruction problem,which is more favorable than existing model-dependent solutions for many practical applications such as riser structural health monitoring.

Vibration Control of A Flexible Marine Riser System Subject to Input Dead Zone and Extraneous Disturbances

An observer-based adaptive backstepping boundary control is proposed for vibration control of flexible offshore riser systems with unknown nonlinear input dead zone and uncertain environmental disturbances.The control algorithm can update the control law online through real-time data to make the controller adapt to the environment and improve the control precision.Specifically,based on the adaptive backstepping framework,virtual control laws and Lyapunov functions are designed for each subsystem.Three direction interference observers are designed to track the timevarying boundary disturbance.On this basis,the inverse of the dead zone and linear state transformation are used to compensate for the original system and eliminate the adverse effects of the dead zone.In addition,the stability of the closed-loop system is proven by Lyapunov stability theory.All the system states are bounded,and the vibration offset of the riser converges to a small area of the initial position.Finally,four examples of flexible marine risers are simulated in MATLAB to verify the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

Dynamic Analysis of A Deepwater Drilling Riser with A New Hang-off System

The safety of risers in hang-off states is a vital challenge in offshore oil and gas engineering.A new hang-off system installed on top of risers is proposed for improving the security of risers.This approach leads to a challenging problem:coupling the dynamics of risers with a new hang-off system combined with multiple structures and complex constraints.To accurately analyze the dynamic responses of the coupled system,a coupled dynamic model is established based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam-column theory and penalty function method.A comprehensive analysis method is proposed for coupled dynamic analysis by combining the finite element method and the Newmarkβmethod.An analysis program is also developed in MATLAB for dynamic simulation.The simulation results show that the dynamic performances of the risers at the top part are significantly improved by the new hang-off system,especially the novel design,which includes the centralizer and articulation joint.The bending moment and lateral deformation of the risers at the top part decrease,while the hang-off joint experiences a great bending moment at the bottom of the lateral restraint area which requires particular attention in design and application.The platform navigation speed range under the safety limits of risers expands with the new hang-off system in use.

A New Simulation Model for Recoil Analysis of Deep-Water Drilling Risers After Emergency Disconnection

The recoil response of a deep-water drilling riser following an ED(Emergency Disconnection)scenario is a transient and sensitive process.The recoiling displacement of the riser is the resultant of recoil motion and axial stretch.How-ever,it is typically represented by one variable in recoil simulations.As axial deformation is quite small compared with axial motion in the recoil process,it inevitably introduces numerical errors(i.e.,a large number annihilating a small number).Thus,it is hard to perform a quantitative analysis of axial deformation,although a consensus initial deformation is essential for recoil dynamics.Moreover,the triggered axial natural modes have never been examined before.In this study,the recoil response is decomposed into two parts:recoil motion and axial deformation,and a novel model is developed by Galerkin method.It has demonstrated that the initial stretch has a significant effect at the initial stage in recoil.The existing models underestimate the effects of axial deformation.The new model can capture information of triggered natural modes and figure out the modes undergoing dynamic compression.This study can be beneficial to overpull setting,determination of ED time and anti-recoil control optimization.

Experimental Study on Vortex-Induced Vibration of Marine Riser Model with Coupling Interference Effect Under Combined Internal and External Flow

A partition model of interference efficiency was constructed to study the coupling interference effect under combined internal and external flow.The concept of“internal flow efficiency”,“velocity ratio”and“interference efficiency”were introduced to quantify the effect of internal flow and interference,and reveal the coupling mechanism among internal flow,external flow and interference effect.The results showed that the dynamic response of risers under variable angles was significantly different after considering the effect of internal flow.When the external flow velocity was smaller than 0.25 m/s,the vibration of risers was promoted by the internal flow.With the increase of external flow velocity,the effect of internal flow was weakened and the dynamic response of riser mainly depended on the external flow and interference effect.Under the effect of different internal flow,the interference efficiency had similar change trend.The interference effect amplified the complex secondary flow effect inside the riser,making the dynamic response of riser complex and random.In this paper,the overlap area and subdivision criterion of interference effect were constructed within the range of experimental velocity ratio,and the change curve of interference efficiency was obtained with an average meaning,which may have important practical meaning.

Linear analysis of the dynamic response of a riser subject to internal solitary waves

The flow field induced by internal solitary waves(ISWs)is peculiar wherein water motion occurs in the whole water depth,and the strong shear near the pycnocline can be generated due to the opposite flow direction between the upper and lower layers,which is a potential threat to marine risers.In this paper,the flow field of ISWs is obtained with the Korteweg-de Vries(Kd V)equation for a two-layer fluid system.Then,a linear analysis is performed for the dynamic response of a riser with its two ends simply supported under the action of ISWs.The explicit expressions of the deflection and the moment of the riser are deduced based on the modal superposition method.The applicable conditions of the theoretical expressions are discussed.Through comparisons with the finite element simulations for nonlinear dynamic responses,it is proved that the theoretical expressions can roughly reveal the nonlinear dynamic response of risers under ISWs when the approximation for the linear analysis is relaxed to some extent.

Abandonment and Recovery Operation of Steel Lazy-Wave Riser in Deepwater by Controlled Vessel and Cable Velocity Rate

Evaluation of abandonment and recovery operation of steel lazy-wave riser in deepwater is presented in this paper.The calculation procedure includes two single continuous SLWR and cable segments, which are coupled together to form the overall mathematical model. Then the equilibrium equations of SLWR and cable are established based on minimum total potential energy principle. The coupled equations are discretized by the finite difference method and solved by Newton-Raphson technique in an iterative manner. The present method is validated by well-established commercial code OrcaFlex. Recovery methods by considering different ratios of vessel’s moving velocity to cable’s recovery velocity are evaluated to optimize the abandonment and recovery operation. In order to keep the tension more stable during the recovery process, the rate ratio before leaving the seabed is increased, and the rate ratio after leaving the seabed is reduced.

Deformation and Stress Analysis of the Deepwater Steel Lazy Wave Riser Subjected to Internal Solitary Waves

The dynamic response of the steel lazy wave riser(SLWR)subjected to the internal solitary wave is a key to assessing its application feasibility.The innovation of this paper is to study the dynamic response properties of the SLWR with large deformation characteristics under internal wave excitation.A numerical scheme of the SLWR is constructed using the slender-rod theory,and the internal solitary wave(ISW)with a two-layer seawater model is simulated by the extended Korteweg-deVries equation.The finite element method combined with the Newmark-βmethod is applied to discretize the equations and update the time integration.The ISW excitation combined with vessel motion on the dynamic deformation and stress of the SLWR is investigated,and extensive simulations of the ISW parameters,including the interface depth ratio and density difference,are carried out.Case calculation reveals that the displacement of the riser in the lower interface layer increases significantly under the ISW excitation,and the stresses at a part of both ends grow evidently.Moreover,the mean value of riser responses under a combination of vessel motion and ISW coincides with the ISW-induced ones.Furthermore,the dynamic responses along the whole riser,including the displacement amplitudes,bending moment amplitudes,and stress amplitudes,almost increase with the increase in interface depth ratios and density differences.

Dynamic Analysis of A Deep-Water Compliant Vertical Access Riser with A Variable Length During Installation

Compliant vertical access risers(CVAR)have broad application prospects in deep-water oil and gas transportation.However,the mechanical behaviors of the CVAR with a variable length during installation remains unclear.To address this issue,based on the flexible segment method,a model of CVAR with a variable length during installation is established in this study,which is verified by the comparison with commercial software.Then,the mechanical behaviors of CVAR during installation are investigated.The results reveal that the CVAR configuration is significantly affected by the buoyancy blocks.The streamwise displacement of CVAR increases with the increase of current velocity.When the BOP weight is insuffcient,obvious upbending is observed in the lower region and transition region,leading to local compression.When the platform moves in the opposite direction to the current,the maximum stress is larger than that of the scenario when the platform moves in the same direction as the current.

Dynamic Properties of Steel Catenary Riser near Touchdown Point Under Coplanar Vessel Heave and Vortex Induced Vibration

The present study establishes a simple numerical model for the coupled response of a steel catenary riser(SCR) subjected to coplanar vessel motion and vortex-induced vibration(VIV). Owing to the large deflection of the SCR, the geometric nonlinearity is considered in this model. The hydrodynamic force comprises the excitation force and hydrodynamic damping, where the excitation force that only exists when the non-dimensional frequency is located in the lock-in range, is associated with the VIV. The hydrodynamic force model is validated based on the published VIV test data.As for the seabed resistance at the touchdown zone(TDZ), integrated with an initial seabed trench, the hysteretic feature is modeled. Based on the model, the study emphasizes on the coupled response characteristics near the touchdown point(TDP) induced by coplanar vessel heave and VIV, and analyzes the sensitivity of the coupled response to the heaving amplitude and frequency. It is found that with the increase of the heave amplitude and frequency, the VIV can be obviously mitigated, but the heave-related response in the coupled analysis seems to be close to that in the heave-only simulation. Finally, the fatigue damage near TDP is parametrically investigated based on the separate analysis and the coupled analysis. The results demonstrate that the coupled effect plays a significant role in the fatigue assessment near TDP. Besides, the proportion of the coupled effect accounting for the total fatigue damage decreases with the increasing seabed stiffness, while increases with the increasing seabed trench depth.

A Flexible-Segment-Model-Based Dynamics Calculation Method for Free Hanging Marine Risers in Re-Entry

In re-entry, the drilling riser hanging to the holding vessel takes on a free hanging state, waiting to be moved from the initial random position to the wellhead. For the re-entry, dynamics calculation is often done to predict the riser motion or evaluate the structural safety. A dynamics calculation method based on Flexible Segment Model （FSM） is proposed for free hanging marine risers. In FSM, a riser is discretized into a series of flexible segments. For each flexible segment, its deflection feature and external forces are analyzed independently. For the whole riser, the nonlinear governing equations are listed according to the moment equilibrium at nodes. For the solution of the nonlinear equations, a linearization iteration scheme is provided in the paper. Owing to its flexibility, each segment can match a long part of the riser body, which enables that good results can be obtained even with a small number of segments. Moreover, the linearization iteration scheme can avoid widely used Newton-Rapson iteration scheme in which the calculation stability is influenced by the initial points. The FSM-based dynamics calculation is timesaving and stable, so suitable for the shape prediction or real-time control of free hanging marine risers.

An Installation System of Deepwater Risers by An S-Lay Vessel

Along with the consumption increase of the petroleum products, more countries have transferred their attentions to the offshore fields, especially the deepwater oil and gas reserves. For deepwater exploitation, the risers must be installed to act as the conduits connecting surface platforms to subsea facilities. In this paper, the typical risers sorted by different classes are introduced, and the correspondent installation methods are presented. By investigating the recent projects performed in the deepwater hot spots, and combining the challenges of HYSY20 l for riser installation, a lifting device developed for assisting riser installation is proposed and detailed to satisfy the installation of deepwater risers in the LW3-1 Gas Field of 1500 m in the South China Sea. Tests on both the functions and performances of such a new system exhibit the satisfaction of meeting all challenging requirements of HYSY201 for application to riser installation in waters up to a depth of 3000 m in the South China Sea.

Cross-Flow VIV-Induced Fatigue Damage of Deepwater Steel Catenary Riser at Touch-Down Point

A prediction model of the deepwater steel catenary riser VIV is proposed based on the forced oscillation test data, taking into account the riser-seafloor interaction for the cross-flow VIV-induced fatigue damage at touch-down point （TDP）. The model will give more reasonable simulation of SCR response near TDP than the previous pinned truncation model. In the present model, the hysteretic riser-soil interaction model is simplified as the linear spring and damper to simulate the seafloor, and the damping is obtained according to the dissipative power during one periodic riser-soil interaction. In order to validate the model, the comparison with the field measurement and the results predicted by Shear 7 program of a full-scale steel catenary riser is carried out. The main induced modes, mode frequencies and response amplitude are in a good agreement. Furthermore, the parametric studies are carried out to broaden the understanding of the fatigue damage sensitivity to the upper end in-plane offset and seabed characteristics. In addition, the fatigue stress comparison at TDP between the truncation riser model and the present full riser model shows that the existence of touch-down zones is very important for the fatigue damage assessment of steel catenary riser at TDP.

Nonlinear Behaviour of Coflexip Risers

A modified Newton-Raphson iterative technique is formulated for obtaining the static configuration of the Lazy 'S' flexible marine riser between the floater and mid-arch buoy under its submerged self weight and the applied top tension. The geometrically non-linear problem is solved by finite difference with the above technique. The problem is formulated as a regular boundary value problem with specified moments and deflections at both ends. Usually the bending stiffness of the flexible riser made of Coflexip pipe is very low. By use of the above analysis, several flexible riser configurations are analyzed and their characteristic behaviors are investigated. Also, changes in the riser characteristics due to quasi-static motion of the floater end are estimated for the safety of the riser layout.

Reliability analysis of marine risers with narrow and long corrosion defects under combined loads

A marine riser,one of the most important components of offshore oil/gas transportation,needs to be designed to eliminate the risks caused by complex ocean environments,platform displacement and internal corrosion,etc.In this study,a new analytical-numerical assessment approach is proposed in order to quantitatively investigate the reliability of internally corroded risers under combined loads including axial tension and internal pressure.First,an analytical solution of the limit state function of intact risers under combined loads is obtained,which is further modified by the non-dimensional corrosion depth （d/ t） for the risers with a narrow and long corrosion defect.The relationship between d/t and limited internal pressure is obtained by finite element analysis and nonlinear regression.Through an advanced first-order reliability method （HL-RF） algorithm,reliability analysis is performed to obtain the failure probability,the reliability index and the sensitivity.These results are further verified by Monte-Carlo importance sampling.The proposed approach of reliability analysis provides an accurate and effective way to estimate the reliability of marine risers with narrow and long corrosion defects under combined loads.

Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of Deepwater Drilling Risers Subjected to Random Loads

Excited by ocean currents, random wave and vessel motion, deepwater drilling risers exhibit significant dynamic response. In time domain, a method is proposed to calculate the nonlinear dynmnic response of deepwater drilling risers subjected to random wave and dynamic large displacement vessel motion boundary condition. Structural and functional loads, external and intemal pressure, free surfaee effect of irregular wave, hydrodynamic forees induced by current and wave, as well as wave and low frequency （drift） motion of the drilling vessel are all accounted for. An example is presented which illustrates the application of the proposed method. The study shows that long term drift motion of the vessel has profound effect on the envelopes of bending stress and lateral displacement, as well as the range of lower flex joint angle of the deepwater riser. It can also be concluded that vessel motion is the principal dynamic loading of nonlinear dynamic response for the deepwater risers rather than wave force.

Numerical Prediction of Vortex-Induced Vibrations on Top Tensioned Riser in Consideration of Internal Flow

In consideration of the effect of the internal flowing fluid and the external marine environmental condition on the vortex-induced vibration （VIV） of top tensioned riser （Till）, the differential equation is derived based on work-energy principles and the riser near wake dynamics is modeled by Facchinetti＇ s wake oscillator model. Then Galerkin＇ s finite element approximation is implemented to derive the nonlinear matrix equation of the coupled equations and file corresponding numerical programs are compiled which solve the coupled equations directly in the time domain. The comparison of the predicted results with the recent experimental results and the prediction of SHEAR7 is performed. The results show the validity of the proposed method on the prediction of VIV of deep water risers. The effect of internal flow on the dynamic characteristics and dynmnic response of the riser is analyzed and several valuable conelusions are drawn.

Fully Coupled Effects of Hull,Mooring and Risers Model in Time Domain Based on An Innovative Deep Draft Multi-Spar

The coupled hull, mooring and riser analysis techniques in time domain are widely recognized as the unique approach to predict the accurate global motions. However, these complex issues have not been perfectly solved due to a large number of nonlinear factors, e.g. forces nonlinearity, mooring nonlinearity, motion nonlinearity and so on. This paper investigates the coupled effects through the numerical uncoupled model, mooring coupled model and fully coupled model accounting mooring and risers based on a novel deep draft multi-spar which is especially designed for deepwater in 2009. The numerical static-offset, free-decay, wind-action tests are executed, and finally three hours simulations are conducted under 100-year return period of GOM conditions involving wave, wind and current actions. The damping contributions, response characteristics and mooring line tensions are emphatically studied.

Nonlinear Static Finite Element Stress Analysis of Pipe-in-Pipe Risers

Owing to the complexity of the pipe-in-pipe (PIP) riser system in structure, load and restraint, many problems arise in the structural analysis of the system. This paper presents a new method for nonlinear static finite element stress analysis of the PIP riser system. The finite element (FE) model of the PIP riser system is built via software AutoPIPE 6.1. According to the specialties of a variety of components in the PIP riser system, different elements are used so as to model the system accurately. Allowing for the complication in modeling the effects of seabed restraint, a technique based on the bilinear spring concept is developed to calculate the soil properties. Then, based on a pipeline project, the entire procedure of stress analysis is discussed in detail, including creation of an FE model, processing of input data and analysis of results. A wide range of loading schemes is investigated to ascertain that the stresses remain within the acceptable range of the pipe material strength. Finally, the effects of the location of flanges, the thermal expansion of submarine pipelines and the seabed restraint on stress distribution in the riser and expansion loop are studied, which are valuable for pipeline designers.