An expeditious algebraic formulation to the buckling critical load of risers under dynamic compression

Abstract

Dynamic compression of risers can play an important role in the structural stability of submerged pipes in catenary-like configuration. In this paper, the analytical formulation for the buckling critical load, developed in the early 2000's, is revisited and extended to cover a wider range of practical cases. A purely algebraic expression for the critical load is provided, eliminating the original formulation requirement related to solving transcendental equations, for both free and anchored risers. The analytic formulations and respective algebraic approximations are compared with numerical simulations, presenting a fairly good agreement. A discussion on the differences and similarities of each formulation ends this paper, highlighting their range of validity. Also, from the comparison, the analytical formulation developed in this work was more suitable for precise and fast determination of the critical buckling load for both riser types, rigid and flexible, and for most typical operating conditions. The proposed algebraic expressions were highly accurate and may substitute the previous analytical formulations for critical load prediction.