Stride JIP: Steel Risers in Deepwater Environments - Progress Summary

Abstract The STRIDE JIP has performed test initiatives into several areas considered to be crucial to the design of steel catenary risers for harsh, deepwater environments. The following investigations are described:Water-tank testing of a ¼" diameter × 100ft long catenary riser model, looking at response to production vessel motions, in particular the response in the touch-down region for rigid and elastic seabed simulations.Vortex induced vibration tests on riser models 20ft long, 6" in diameter, in simulated currents up to 16.5 ft/s (5m/s - Reynolds 6.7x105). Helical straked and bare pipe models were towed at angles of up to 45° to the flow, simulating current flow over non-vertical riser sections of simple catenary and buoyant wave risers. The requirement and effectiveness of strakes on inclined sections was investigated.Vortex induced vibration tests on riser strings 650ft long, 10.75" diameter in simulated currents up to 5.8 knots (3m/s - Reynolds 6x105). Helical straked and bare pipe models were towed at angles of up to 75° to the vertical in a Norwegian Fjord between two tugs, continuing the investigation into non-vertical riser response to high currents. Introduction Phase II of the STRIDE JIP was initiated by 2H Offshore in March 1998, and is sponsored by 15 operators and 5 engineering contractors. During Phase I of the project, 2 areas were identified as being of prime importance to the design of deepwater steel catenary risers: the touch down point (TDP) and vortex induced vibration (VIV)1. TDP - A deepwater catenary riser TDP can actually involve a wide region of possible contact between different parts of the riser and different areas of the seabed, as dictated by the environmental loading on the floating production vessel and riser system. STRIDE Phase I identified this area of a catenary riser as critical with regards to the strength and fatigue life of the whole system. Confidence in analysis techniques was considered to be of paramount importance to such developments, and this lead to the proposed test program. VIV - Lack of empirical data on VIV of inclined and curved structures required a conservative design approach in STRIDE Phase I. In particular, it had to be assumed that VIV suppression strakes would be required over most of the riser length. The increase in riser drag due to such heavy straking produces a succession of technical and commercial knock-on effects. A high drag catenary riser needs extra ballast in the vertical section to accommodate the current loading, otherwise the riser can be pushed into shapes that overstress the TDP - Figure 1. Within the analysis, ballast was assumed to be most effectively applied as increased riser pipe wall thickness, and resulted in an increase of +40% on that required for pressure considerations alone. Increased wall thickness was shown to have a major impact on installation costs, particularly the amount of temporary buoyancy required for what was found to be the leading installation method at the time, controlled depth tow out. At the kick-off meeting for STRIDE Phase II, it was agreed by all participants that VIV and TDP be top of the list for further investigations. TDP Testing Program The main objective of these tests was to benchmark the ability of industry software to predict the response of a riser pipe catenary at its TDP, particularly as it is put into compressive loading or buckling as a result of extreme motions at the top end, for instance due to extreme storm motions on the floating production vessel.