Deformation and Mechanical behavior of the Drill Pipe during Subsea Production Tree Installation

Abstract

The article presents an analytical model to study the deformation and mechanical behavior of the drill pipe during subsea production tree (SPT) installation. Lateral and axial loads were considered, including the ocean wave, ocean current, drill pipe size and SPT weight that might dominant the deformation and mechanical behavior of the pipe. And the finite difference method and Gauss-Jordan elimination method were used to solve the established nonlinear analysis model. The results indicate that the ocean current, water depth and drill pipe size are the main factors affecting the lateral displacement of the last node of drill pipe and mechanical behavior of the pipe at lift-off point and thus need to be considered when designing such installation process.