Abstract

Coupled Analysis of Flexible Pipe - Seabed Interaction During Dropped Impact

With the increase in equipment and pipeline density on the seabed around offshore oil and gas production assets, the risk to pipelines through dropped object impact is increasing. While beneficial in many respects, the use of flexible pipe technology arguably increases this risk further as they are potentially more vulnerable than their rigid steel counterparts. The focus of the nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) described here is to determine the likelihood of an impact causing damage to the pipeline. A comparison between the traditional approach of using soil springs to represent pipeline seabed interaction and the Coupled Euler Lagrangian method within the ABAQUS FEA examines whether the inertia effects of seawater and soil, which were omitted from the soil spring approach, are significant to the overall findings. 

About the Speaker

Mr. Alistair Gill, Wild Well Control 

Advanced Engineering Vice President

Wild Well Advanced Engineering Director Alistair Gill has dedicated more than a quarter century of his life to engineering, with more than 17 of those years spent honing an expertise on the ABAQUS finite element toolset. Having worked in the oil and gas industry since 1998, he has developed a vast knowledge of computational mechanics in both structural and fluid environments with an in-depth knowledge of fluid and structural analysis.