BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF DEEPWATER PIPELINES BY VECTOR FORM INTRINSIC FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Abstract

Local buckling damage is one of the biggest safety issues during the operation of deepwater pipelines. The innovative vector form intrinsic finite element method (VFIFE) is used to analyze the buckling behavior of deepwater pipelines. After deriving the calculation formula of VFIFE space shell elements considering the nonlinear elastoplastic material, we developed a Fortran calculation program and a MATLAB post-processing program to simulate the collapse and buckling propagation process. The collapse pressure and the buckling propagation pressure were calculated. A full-scale pressure chamber test was conducted to analyze the buckling load and buckling morphology. The VFIFE results were compared with those of the test, traditional finite element method (FEM) and DNV method. The VEIFE can directly simulate the pipeline collapse, the buckling propagation, the collapse pressure, and the buckling propagation pressure. The VFIFE results are in line with the actual situation and in good agreement with those of the other methods. The VFIFE has the advantages of not requiring special calculation processing and tracking of the entire behavior, thus providing a new and universal analytic strategy for buckling simulation of deepwater pipelines.