Modelling Techniques and Case Study of Explicit 3D FE-Simulation of Ridge Loads Against an Offshore Structure

A ridge interaction with an offshore structure, Norstro¨msgrund lighthouse in the Gulf of Bothnia, was simulated by the finite element method (FEM) utilizing the explicit solution algorithm. The explicit method in a dynamic analysis enabled an efficient way to simulate the failure of a ridge. A shear-cap material model describing the ice rubble mechanical behaviour was developed for the 3-dimensional analysis and implemented into ABAQUS FEM-software as a user material subroutine. The FE-model described the ridge: the sail and keel consisting of ice rubble and the consolidated layer close to the waterline. A selected ridge-interaction event was simulated with a simplified geometry, based on measurements carried out in the STRICE project. The ridge field was idealized to have a constant thickness. The shape of a 3-dimensional structure was modelled using rigid elements. The phenomenological model can be utilized to gain an understanding of how the ridge fails during the interaction with an offshore structure, what the ridge loads are, and how they are distributed against the structure. A parametric study was carried out to study how the mechanical properties, i.e. the cohesion and friction angle of the rubble and the strength of the consolidated layer influence the forces and failure mechanisms.

Model Tests on a Spar in Level Ice and Ice Ridge Conditions

1:30 and 1:50 model-scale ice tests of an ice-resistant Spar design were carried out to determine the loads on the Spar in level ice and ice ridges. Due to limitations in the depth of the ice test facility, the hull draft and mooring system were truncated. The 1:30 scale model was towed through the ice on a fixed and compliant dynamometer. The stiffness characteristics of the compliant dynamometer matched the horizontal stiffness of the full-scale mooring system. The purpose of these tests was to compare the mooring and ice loads measured in fixed and compliant conditions. The 1:50 scale model was truncated by 70 m. Its mooring system was modeled using a four-line system designed to give the same global restoring forces as the full-scale mooring system. The model was fitted with vertical plates on the exterior of the hull to compensate for loss of added mass and added moment of inertia. A limited number of tests were carried out at the two model scales in the same ice conditions to investigate scaling effects. The mooring and ice loads measured in the fixed and compliant conditions were found to be similar, indicating that loads estimated, assuming the structure is fixed, provide good estimates. Good agreement between the two models was also found for the tests carried out in the same ice conditions, suggesting that the scaling effects may be negligible.

Permafrost Thawing-Pipeline Interaction Advanced Finite Element Model

The increasing energy demand has promoted the interest in exploration and field development in the Arctic waters, which holds one quarter of the world’s petroleum reserves. The harsh conditions and fragile environment in the arctic region introduce many challenges to a sustainable development of these resources. One of the key challenges is the engineering consideration of warm pipelines installed in permafrost areas; found mainly in shallow waters and shore crossings. Evaluations have to be made during the pipeline design to avoid significant thaw settlement and large-scale permafrost degrading. In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model was developed to study the interaction between buried pipelines transporting warm hydrocarbons and the surrounding permafrost. This interaction is a combination of several mechanisms: heat transfer from the pipeline, results in permafrost thawing and formation of thaw bulb around the pipeline. Consequently, the thaw settlement of soil beneath the pipeline base results in bending strains in the pipe wall. For safe operations, the pipe should be designed so that the induced strains do not exceed the ultimate limit state conditions. The developed model helps in accurate prediction of pipe strains by using finite element continuum modeling method as opposed to the more commonly used discrete (springs) modeling and hand calculations. It also assesses the real size of the thaw bulb and the corresponding settlement at any time, thus preventing an over-conservative design.

An Approach to Include Observed VIV Likelihood in Drilling Riser Fatigue Analyses

Field measurements of the response of a number of drilling risers indicate that vortex-induced vibration (VIV) occurs significantly less often than predicted by the industry-standard fatigue analysis computer program SHEAR7 V4.4. Several comparisons to model tests and field data, including one published by BP and 2H in 2007 [1], demonstrate that this analysis program is generally quite conservative, given that VIV occurs. Furthermore, this conservatism does not take into account those situations in which VIV fatigue is predicted but none is observed in the field, which adds yet another layer of “hidden” conservatism to design analyses. In an effort to address this and reduce conservatism to a more appropriate level, the probability of occurrence of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) is examined using full-scale measured data. The data has been collected over the past several years from five drilling risers without VIV suppression devices. These risers are on rigs under contract to BP at high-current-susceptible sites worldwide. Collectively, the data correspond to 9,600 10-minute field measurements, equivalent to 0.18 years of continuous monitoring. The riser response is obtained from motion loggers placed at selected positions along the riser as described in [1]. Each logger measures 3D accelerations and 2D angular rates. Through-depth currents are measured via Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP). By comparison of measurements to computer predictions based on the observed current profile, a relationship is developed between the intensity of the fatigue damage predicted and the probability that VIV is observed in the field. Subsequently, an approach is proposed for scaling analysis predictions to reflect the relative likelihood of VIV. The database of measured and SHEAR7 maximum predicted fatigue damage rates is statistically characterized to determine how it may be used to determine factors of safety (FOS) for VIV design. A worked example for a deepwater drilling riser in the GoM is used to show how the FOS methodology can be applied in the case of multiple design currents each with a different annual probability of occurrence.

Tensile, Torsional and Bending Strain at the Adhesive Rupture of an Iced Substrate

In order to develop an effective deicing device using mechanical deformation of substrates, the adhesive and/or cohesive strains of ice at rupture were measured for three different modes of solicitation: tensile, twisting and bending. A total of 108 icing/deicing tests were conducted with aluminum and nylon samples covered with hard rime ice deposits 2, 5, and 10 mm thick strained at various strains rates in brittle regime at −10°C. Real time deformation was precisely monitored using a strain gage fixed to the A1 interface, and force by means of load cells and a torque-meter. Deicing strain was determined at the time of ice detachment, which corresponds to a visible, instant change in the slope of stress-strain curves. The mean values of deicing strains, ε %, measured in tensile, torsion and bending experiments are respectively, 0.037 ± 0.015%, 0.043 ± 0.023% and 0.004 ± 0.003% As for adhesion strength, the highest values were obtained in tension, 4 MPa ± 50%, and the lowest in bending, 0.014 MPa ± 36%. In torsion, the value was intermediary, at 1.26 MPa ± 67%. Measurements also showed that deicing stress and strain tended to increase with substrate roughness, whereas they decrease with increasing ice thicknesses. In summary, this work points out the effects of two major factors on ice adhesion strength, the solicitation mode and the ice thickness. Finally these results suggest that the first criteria for a mechanical deicing device has to satisfy to be effective is to have the capacity to generating a strain at around 0.04% ice/substrate interface.

Progressive Wave Simulation Using Stabilized Edge-Based Finite Element Methods

Flows involving waves and free-surfaces occur in several problems in hydrodynamics, such as sloshing in tanks, waves breaking in ships and motions of offshore platforms. The computation of such wave problems is challenging since the water/air interface (or free-surface) commonly present merging, fragmentation and cusps, leading to the use of interface capturing Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approaches. In such methods the interface between the two fluids is captured by the use of a marking function which is transported in a flow field. In this work we simulate these problems with a 3D incompressible SUPG/PSPG parallel edge-based finite element flow solver associated to the Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method [1]. The hyperbolic equation for the transport of the marking function is also solved by a fully implicit parallel edge-based SUPG finite element formulation. Global mass conservation is enforced adding or removing mass proportionally to the absolute value of the normal velocity at the interface. The performance and accuracy of the proposed solution method is tested in the simulation of progressive waves and the interaction of a fixed cylinder with a progressive wave.

VIV and WIV Suppression With Parallel Control Plates on a Pair of Circular Cylinders in Tandem

Experiments have been carried out on two-dimensional devices fitted to a rigid length of circular cylinder to investigate the efficiency of pivoting parallel plates as wake-induced vibration suppressors. Measurements are presented for a circular cylinder with low mass and damping which is free to respond in the cross-flow direction. It is shown how VIV and WIV can be practically eliminated by using free to rotate parallel plates on a pair of tandem cylinders. Unlike helical strakes, the device achieves VIV suppression with 33% drag reduction when compare to a pair of fixed tandem cylinders at the same Reynolds number. These results prove that suppressors based on parallel plates have great potential to suppress VIV and WIV of offshore structures with considerable drag reduction.

Shoulder Ice Barrier Ice Tank Testing—Part II: Estimation of Breaking Length and Block Size Using Image Analysis

When studying ice interaction on sloped structures, a key parameter that is usually reported after experiments and observations either in Full Scale or Model Scale is the breaking length associated with the ice failure. Moreover, either for numerical modeling or load calculations the size of the blocks generated during ice-structure interaction that accumulates rubble is of importance. In this paper, the technique of image analysis has been used to obtain values of the breaking length and the ice block sizes generated during model tests of a Shoulder Ice Barrier (SIB)-ice interaction. The model tests were performed in the Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) during July 2007. Since the SIB represents a new concept in ice barrier structures, model tests were intended to evaluate its general performance. A brief description of the model tests and the image analysis technique used to analyze the data is done. A total of five experiments where ice thickness, ice flexural strength and shoulder inclination were varied, are analyzed. Results of the breaking length analysis show that there is a characteristic change in the breaking length associated with the transition from ice interactions on the bare structure (Phase 1) and interaction onto accumulated rubble (Phase 2). Average values of the breaking length of both phases for each experiment are presented. Since the information regarding breaking length in structures that accumulate rubble is sparse, the experimental results of Phase 1, where the rubble accumulation is still small, are compared with the predictions from three different models presented in the literature for sloped structures, under similar ice conditions, that do not accumulate rubble. The comparison allows concluding that the breaking phenomenon is being reasonably well modeled in the experiments. The block sizes of the upper layer of the accumulated rubble were analyzed and the block length and width distributions were found for each experiment. A linear trend was found between block size and ice thickness. A linear fitting of the data was performed in order to obtain simple equations which give an upper limit of the length and width of the ice blocks generated during the SIB-ice interaction as function of the ice thickness. The results may apply for ice interaction on sloped structures in general as well.

Reynolds Number Effects on Hydrodynamic Coefficients for Pure In-Line and Pure Cross-Flow Forced Vortex Induced Vibrations

In-line vibrations have been noted to have an important contribution to the fatigue of free spanning pipelines. Still, in-line contributions are not usually accounted for in current VIV prediction models. The present study seeks to broaden the current knowledge regarding in-line vibrations by expanding the work of Aronsen (2007) to include possible Reynolds number effects on pure in-line forced, sinusoidal oscillations for four Reynolds numbers ranging from 9,000 to 36,200. Similar tests were performed for pure cross-flow forced motion as well, mostly to confirm findings from previous research. When experimental uncertainties are accounted for, there appears to be little dependence on Reynolds number for all three hydrodynamic coefficients considered: the force in phase with velocity, the force in phase with acceleration, and the mean drag coefficient. However, trends can still be observed for the in-line added mass in the first instability region and for the transition between the two instability regions for in-line oscillations, and also between the low and high cross-flow added mass regimes. For Re = 9,000, the hydrodynamic coefficients do not appear to be stable and can be regarded as highly Reynolds number dependent.

Local Design Pressures for Structures in Ice: Analysis of Full-Scale Data

The design of structures for ice conditions requires knowledge of local ice pressures to allow for appropriate levels of structural strengthening. Full-scale field data are key to enhancing our understanding and modeling of ice behavior. Data collected during icebreaker ramming events represent an important source of information for use in the evaluation and validation of design methodologies. This paper examines several ship-ice interaction datasets using the ‘event-maximum’ method of local pressure analysis developed by Jordaan and co-workers [1]. In this method, the local pressure is obtained from a normalized curve which contains two parameters, α and x0. Local pressure analysis results for data from the USCGS Polar Sea, CCGS Terry Fox, CCGS Louis St. Laurent, and Swedish Icebreaker Oden are presented. For all data considered the calculated values of α fall below the design curve. A discussion of panel exposure, event duration and the effect of these factors on x0 is given. New design curves are presented. A comparison of results with those obtained using an alternative approach, the up-crossing rate method, is presented in a companion paper [2].