Dynamic Analysis of Pipeline Lifting Operations for Different Current Velocities and Wave Heights

Pipelines are widely used for transporting oil resources in the context of offshore oil exploitation.The pipeline stress-strength analysis is an important stage in related design and ensuing construction techniques.In this study,assuming representative work environment parameters,pipeline lifting operations are investigated numerically.More specifically,a time-domain coupled dynamic analysis method is used to conduct a hydrodynamic analysis under different current velocities and wave heights.The results show that proper operation requires the lifting points are reasonably set in combination with the length of the pipeline and the position of the lifting device on the construction ship.The impact of waves on the pipeline is limited,however lifting operations under strong wind and waves should be avoided as far as possible.

Numerical Analysis of Deteriorated Sub-sea Pipelines under Environmental Loads

The significant point is the bidirectional interaction technique in FSI analysis while investigating subsea corrosion effect. By this way, pipe environment is accurately modelled and fluid effects are also considered. The effect of external corrosion defects on structural behaviour of a pipeline is studied by creating a nonlinear numerical model based on the finite element method according to ABAQUS analysis program. Corrosion losses of sections are obtained from experimental results and applied to the model. Numerical model is formed by a span of sub-sea pipeline that is subjected to environmental loads. Seismic and wind-generated irregular wave loads are considered as environmental loads. Irregular wave is represented with equivalent eight regular waves via FFT. The pipe is modelled according to two different types which are non-corroded（intact） and corroded（deteriorated） to demonstrate corrosion effects on it. The visible type of corrosion in marine environment is named ‘pitting＇ corrosion, in which the material loss is locally interpenetrated over the surface. By considering this situation, the corroded and non-corroded pipes are modelled as 3D solid elements. The main point is revealing how the subsea corrosion affects the structural behaviour of pipelines on the basis of implementation of experimental results to a model structure due to changes of stresses and displacement.

Stress analysis on large-diameter buried gas pipelines under catastrophic landslides

This paper presents a method for analysis of stress and strain of gas pipelines under the effect of horizontal catastrophic landslides. A soil spring model was used to analyze the nonlinear characteristics concerning the mutual effects between the pipeline and the soil. The Ramberg–Osgood model was used to describe the constitutive relations of pipeline materials. This paper also constructed a finite element analysis model using ABAQUS finite element software and studied the distribution of the maximum stress and strain of the pipeline and the axial stress and strain along the pipeline by referencing some typical accident cases. The calculation results indicated that the maximum stress and strain increased gradually with the displacement of landslide.The limit values of pipeline axial stress strain appeared at the junction of the landslide area and non-landslide area. The stress failure criterion was relatively more conservative than the strain failure criterion. The research results of this paper may be used as a technical reference concerning the design and safety management of large-diameter gas pipelines under the effects of catastrophic landslides.

Modeling and analysis of a catastrophic oil spill and vapor cloud explosion in a confined space upon oil pipeline leaking

Oil spill-induced vapor cloud explosions in a confined space can cause catastrophic consequences.In this work,investigation was conducted on the catastrophic pipeline leak,oil spill,and the resulting vapor cloud explosion accident occurring in China in 2013 by modeling analysis,field surveys,and numerical simulations.The total amount of the spilled oil was up to2044.4 m3 due to improper disposal.The long residence time of the oil remaining in a confined space permitted the formation of explosive mixtures and caused the vapor cloud explosion.A numerical model was developed to estimate the consequence of the explosion based on volatilization testing results.The results show that the death-leading zone and the glass-breaking zone could be 18 m and 92 m,respectively,which are consistent with the field investigation.The severity of the explosion is related to the amount of the oil spill,properties of oil,and volatilization time.It is recommended that a comprehensive risk assessment be conducted to analyze the possible consequences upon oil spilling into a confined space.Prompt collection and ventilation measures should be taken immediately after the spill occurs to reduce the time for oil volatilization and prevent the mixture from reaching its explosive limit.

Local buckling failure analysis of high-strength pipelines

Pipelines in geological disaster regions typically suffer the risk of local buckling failure because of slender structure and complex load. This paper is meant to reveal the local buckling behavior of buried pipelines with a large diameter and high strength, which are under different conditions, including pure bending and bending combined with internal pressure. Finite element analysis was built according to previous data to study local buckling behavior of pressurized and unpressurized pipes under bending conditions and their differences in local buckling failure modes. In parametric analysis, a series of parameters,including pipe geometrical dimension, pipe material properties and internal pressure, were selected to study their influences on the critical bending moment, critical compressive stress and critical compressive strain of pipes.Especially the hardening exponent of pipe material was introduced to the parameter analysis by using the Ramberg–Osgood constitutive model. Results showed that geometrical dimensions, material and internal pressure can exert similar effects on the critical bending moment and critical compressive stress, which have different, even reverse effects on the critical compressive strain. Based on these analyses, more accurate design models of critical bending moment and critical compressive stress have been proposed for high-strength pipelines under bendingconditions, which provide theoretical methods for highstrength pipeline engineering.

Fuzzy Reliability Analysis for Seabed Oil Gas Pipeline Networks Under Earthquakes

The seabed oil gas pipeline network is simplified to a network with stochastic edge weight by means of the fuzzy graphics theory. With the help of network analysis, fuzzy mathematics, and stochastic theory, the problem of reliability analysis for the seabed oil gas pipeline network under earthquakes is transformed into the calculation of the transitive closure of fuzzy matrix of the stochastic fuzzy network. In classical network reliability analysis, the node is supposed to be non invalidated; in this paper, this premise is modified by introducing a disposal method which has taken the possible invalidated node into account. A good result is obtained by use of the Monte Carlo simulation analysis.

An equivalent-boundary method for the shell analysis of buried pipelines under fault movement

A new shell finite element method (FEM) model with an equivalent boundary is presented for estimating the re- sponse of a buried pipeline under large fault movement. The length of affected pipeline under fault movement is usually too long for a shell-mode calculation because of the limitation of memory and time of computers. In this study, only the pipeline segment near fault is modeled with plastic shell elements to study the local buckling and the large section deformation in pipe. The material property of pipe segment far away from the fault is considered as elastic, and nonlinear spring elements at equivalent boundaries are obtained and applied to two ends of shell model. Compared with the fixed-boundary shell model, the shell model with an equivalent boundary proposed by the study can remarkably reduce the needed memory and calculating time.

Risk analysis and maintenance decision making of natural gas pipelines with external corrosion based on Bayesian network

Buried natural gas pipelines are vulnerable to external corrosion because they are encased in a soil environment for a long time.Identifying the causes of external corrosion and taking specific maintenance measures is essential.In this work,a risk analysis and maintenance decision-making model for natural gas pipelines with external corrosion is proposed based on a Bayesian network.A fault tree model is first employed to identify the causes of external corrosion.The Bayesian network for risk analysis is determined accordingly.The maintenance strategies are then inserted into the Bayesian network to show a reduction of the risk.The costs of maintenance strategies and the reduced risk after maintenance are combined in an optimization function to build a decision-making model.Because of the limitations of historical data,some of the parameters in the Bayesian network are obtained from a probabilistic estimation model,which combines expert experience and fuzzy set theory.Finally,a case study is carried out to verify the feasibility of the maintenance decision model.This indicates that the method proposed in this work can be used to provide effective maintenance schemes for different pipeline external corrosion scenarios and to reduce the possible losses caused by external corrosion.

Nonlinear vibration analysis of pipeline considering the effects of soft nonlinear clamp

Soft nonlinear support is a major engineering project,but there are few relevant studies.In this paper,a dynamic pipeline model with soft nonlinear supports at both ends is established.By considering the influence of the Coriolis force and centrifugal force,the dynamical coupling equation of fluid-structure interaction is derived with extended Hamilton’s principle.Then,the approximate analytical solutions are sought via the harmonic balance method.The amplitude-frequency response curves show that different effects can be determined by approximate analysis.It is demonstrated that the increase in the fluid velocity can increase the amplitude of the pipeline system.The frequency range of unstable response increases when the fluid pressure raises.The combination of the soft nonlinear clamp and the large geometrical deformation of the pipeline affects the nonlinear vibration characteristic of the system,and the external excitation force and damping have significant effects on the stability.

Assessment of pipeline stability in the Gulf of Mexico during hurricanes using dynamic analysis

Pipelines are the critical link between major offshore oil and gas developments and the mainland. Any inadequate on-bottom stability design could result in disruption and failure, having a devastating impact on the economy and environment. Predicting the stability behavior of offshore pipelines in hurricanes is therefore vital to the assessment of both new design and existing assets. The Gulf of Mexico has a very dense network of pipeline systems constructed on the seabed. During the last two decades, the Gulf of Mexico has experienced a series of strong hurricanes, which have destroyed, disrupted and destabilized many pipelines. This paper first reviews some of these engineering cases. Following that, three case studies are retrospectively simulated using an in-house developed program. The study utilizes the offshore pipeline and hurricane details to conduct a Dynamic Lateral Stability analysis, with the results providing evidence as to the accuracy of the modeling techniques developed.

Modal Analysis and Multi-objective Optimization of Pressurizing Pipeline

The pressurizing pipeline of hot press resonates under the excitation load,which poses a serious hidden danger to the safety of the equipment and the operator.In order to increase the natural frequency of the pressurizing pipeline,modal analysis of the pressurizing pipeline is carried out to study the mechanism of pipeline vibration and common vibration reduction measures.A method of increasing the natural frequency of the pressurizing pipeline was analyzed.The influence of pipeline clamp assembly stiffness,pipeline clamp number and pipeline clamp installation position on the mode of the pressurizing pipeline is studied.Sensitivity analysis is carried out to study the influence of the various parameters on the mode of the pressurizing pipeline.Genetic algorithm based on Pareto optimality is introduced for multi-objective optimization of pressurizing pipeline.The optimization results show that the natural frequency of the pressurizing pipeline increases by 2.4%and the displacement response is reduced by 17.7%.

FEM modeling for 3D dynamic analysis of deep-ocean mining pipeline and its experimental verification

3D dynamic analysis models of 1000 m deep-ocean mining pipeline, including steel lift pipe, pump, buffer and flexible hose, were established by finite element method (FEM). The coupling effect of steel lift pipe and flexible hose, and main external loads of pipeline were considered in the models, such as gravity, buoyancy, hydrodynamic forces, internal and external fluid pressures, concentrated suspension buoyancy on the flexible hose, torsional moment and axial force induced by pump working. Some relevant FEM models and solution techniques were developed, according to various 3D transient behaviors of integrated deep-ocean mining pipeline, including towing motions of track-keeping operation and launch process of pipeline. Meanwhile, an experimental verification system in towing water tank that had similar characteristics of designed mining pipeline was developed to verify the accuracy of the FEM models and dynamic simulation. The experiment results show that the experimental records and simulation results of stress of pipe are coincided. Based on the further simulations of 1 000 m deep-ocean mining pipeline, the simulation results show that, to form configuration of a saddle shape, the total concentrated suspension buoyancy of flexible hose should be 95%?105% of the gravity of flexible hose in water, the first suspension point occupies 1/3 of the total buoyancy, and the second suspension point occupies 2/3 of the total buoyancy. When towing velocity of mining system is less than 0.5 m/s, the towing track of buffer is coincided with the setting route of ship on the whole and the configuration of flexible hose is also kept well.

Global lateral buckling analysis of idealized subsea pipelines

In order to avoid the curing effects of paraffin on the transport process and reduce the transport difficulty,usually high temperature and high pressure are used in the transportation of oil and gas.The differences of temperature and pressure cause additional stress along the pipeline,due to the constraint of the foundation soil,the additional stress can not release freely,when the additional stress is large enough to motivate the submarine pipelines buckle.In this work,the energy method is introduced to deduce the analytical solution which is suitable for the global buckling modes of idealized subsea pipeline and analyze the relationship between the critical buckling temperature,buckling length and amplitude under different high-order global lateral buckling modes.To obtain a consistent formulation of the problem,the principles of virtual displacements and the variation calculus for variable matching points are applied.The finite element method based on elasto-plastic theory is used to simulate the lateral global buckling of the pipelines under high temperature and pressure.The factors influencing the lateral buckling of pipelines are further studied.Based upon some actual engineering projects,the finite element results are compared with the analytical ones,and then the influence of thermal stress,the section rigidity of pipeline,the soil properties and the trigging force to the high order lateral buckling are discussed.The method of applying the small trigging force on pipeline is reliable in global buckling numerical analysis.In practice,increasing the section rigidity of a pipeline is an effective measure to improve the ability to resist the global buckling.

Spatial analysis for underground pipeline network information system

It is appropriate to establish underground pipeline network information system based on MapInfo software platform in many enterprises when taking account of the firm size and data amount. Since some functions of MapInfo in spatial analysis are not very strong relatively, it is difficult for MapInfo to fulfill some common functions about pipeline analysis such as spatial configuration, three-dimensional display, pipe exploding and so on. The thought and arithmetic to solve the above problems are approached based on respect theories of computer graphics and graph theory. A variety of function moduli have developed by means of senior computer languages and the system integration is realized.

Quantitative Analysis of Mg in Pipeline Dirt Based on Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

In order to maintain the pipeline better and remove the dirt more effectively, it was necessary to analyze the contents of elements in dirt. Mg in soil outside of the pipe and the dirt inside of the pipe was quantitatively analyzed and compared by using the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy （LIBS）. Firstly, Mg was quantitatively analyzed on the basis of Mg I 285.213 nm by calibration curve for integrated intensity and peak intensity of the spectrum before and after subtracting noise, respectively. Then calibration curves on the basis of Mg II 279.553 nm and Mg II 280.270 nm were analyzed. The results indicated that it is better to use integrated intensity after subtracting noise of the spectrum line with high relative intensity to make the calibration curve.

Numerical Study and Economy Analysis of Two Heated Crude Oil Pipelines Laid in One Ditch

In this paper,the transportation economy of two heated crude oil pipelines laid in one ditch is analyzed by taking into account the influence of operating temperature,interval between two pipelines,and distance between two heating stations on the heating energy consumption.To analyze the transportation economy,the two heated crude oil pipelines laid in one ditch are simulated under four operating conditions based on an unstructured finite volume method.Compared with laying two crude oil pipelines separately in two ditches,the results attest notably higher soil temperature,meaning reduced heat dissipation of each pipeline by laying two pipelines in one ditch.It is inferred that for the same desired oil temperature at the inlet of the next heating station,laying two pipelines in one ditch requires lower oil temperature at the outlet of heating station,indicating decreased energy cost at the heating station and improved transportation economy.Then economy analysis of four configurations of laying two pipelines in one ditch is performed.By comparing the results of four conditions,the interval between two pipelines of 1.2 m is found to save the energy most efficiently,which is as large as 26.6%compared with that of laying two pipelines in two separate ditches.In addition,narrowing the pipeline interval and extending the distance between heating stations is beneficial to save heating energy.This study is expected to provide valuable guidance for operation optimization of heated crude oil pipelines.

Strain analysis of buried steel pipelines across strike-slip faults

Existing analytical methods of buried steel pipelines subjected to active strike-slip faults depended on a number of simplifications.To study the failure mechanism more accurately,a refined strain analytical methodology was proposed,taking the nonlinear characteristics of soil-pipeline interaction and pipe steel into account.Based on the elastic-beam and beam-on-elastic-foundation theories,the position of pipe potential destruction and the strain and deformation distributions along the pipeline were derived.Compared with existing analytical methods and three-dimensional nonlinear finite element analysis,the maximum axial total strains of pipe from the analytical methodology presented are in good agreement with the finite element results at small and intermediate fault movements and become gradually more conservative at large fault displacements.The position of pipe potential failure and the deformation distribution along the pipeline are fairly consistent with the finite element results.

Analysis of Water Pipeline Breaks

This study explores the arrivals of water pipeline break failures. The aim is to assist the facility manager in the decision making process. Based on characteristics of the data set ranging from 2011 to 2014, two steps of analysis were presented in the paper. This first step is the analysis of partially complete data set (2011 data). The 2-sample KS test is adopted to check the similarity between this data set and the entire data set with no underlying distribution implied. In order to conduct the reliability analysis, the Weibull distribution is adopted to evaluate the data. For annual data set, the 2-parameter Weibull distribution fits data sets pretty well. The shape parameters are a little greater than 1, indicating a slightly increasing arrival rate of such failures. For the entire data set, the 3-parameter Weibull tends to fit the data better than the 2-parameter Weibull. The shape parameter is well above 1, indicating an increasing arrival rate of the failures. To eliminate the impact of missing points for the 2011 data set, data from 2012 to 2014 were also considered as a new set, the Weibull distribution generated a decent fitting. The shape parameter is a little greater than 1. Therefore, there is a slightly increasing arrival rate of those pipeline failures. Results from this study provide decision makers valuable information in terms of whether additional efforts shall be made to enhance the system’s performance in order to reduce the failure rate.

Dynamic optimization analysis of hydraulic pipeline system based on a developed response surface method

When designing a complex pipeline with long distance and multi-supports for offshore platform,it is necessary to analyze the vibration characteristics of the complex pipeline system to ensure that there is no harmful resonance in the working conditions.Therefore,the optimal layout of support is an effective method to reduce the vibration response of hydraulic pipeline system.In this paper,a developed dynamic optimization method for the complex pipeline is proposed to investigate the vibration characteristics of complex pipeline with multi-elastic supports.In this method,the Kriging response surface model between the support position and pipeline is established.The position of the clamp in the model is parameterized and the optimal solution of performance index is obtained by genetic algorithm.The number of clamps and the interval between clamps are considered as the constraints of layout optimization,and the optimization objective is the natural frequencies of pipeline.Taking a typical offshore pipeline as example to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method,the results show that the vibration performance of the hydraulic pipeline system is distinctly improved by the optimization procedure,which can provide reasonable guidance for the design of complex hydraulic pipeline system.

Reduced-order modeling and vibration transfer analysis of a fluid-delivering branch pipeline that consider fluid–solid interactions

The efficient dynamic modeling and vibration transfer analysis of a fluid-delivering branch pipeline(FDBP)are essential for analyzing vibration coupling effects and implementing vibration reduction optimization.Therefore,this study proposes a reduced-order dynamic modeling method suitable for FDBPs and then analyzes the vibration transfer characteristics.For the modeling method,the finite element method and absorbing transfer matrix method(ATMM)are integrated,considering the fluid–structure coupling effect and fluid disturbances.The dual-domain dynamic substructure method is developed to perform the reduced-order modeling of FDBP,and ATMM is adopted to reduce the matrix order when solving fluid disturbances.Furthermore,the modeling method is validated by experiments on an H-shaped branch pipeline.Finally,transient and steady-state vibration transfer analyses of FDBP are performed,and the effects of branch locations on natural characteristics and vibration transfer behavior are analyzed.Results show that transient vibration transfer represents the transfer and conversion of the kinematic,strain,and damping energies,while steady-state vibration transfer characteristics are related to the vibration mode.In addition,multiple-order mode exchanges are triggered when branch locations vary in frequency-shift regions,and the mode-exchange regions are also the transformation ones for vibration transfer patterns.