Pipe-soil interaction behaviors of deepwater J-lay pipeline on sloping seabed

Abstract

The pipe-soil interaction behaviors are crucial factors for the J-lay pipeline design, which are mainly investigated on the horizontal seabed in previous studies. This paper develops an innovative method for the static and dynamic analyses of pipe-soil interactions considering the J-lay pipeline on a sloping seabed. This approach simulates the motion processes of the pipeline particles and solves the internal forces of the pipeline elements by the vector mechanics and finite element principle. The position coordinates formulations of pipeline particles are derived to calculate the pipeline locations on the sloping seabed. The non-linear hysteretic soil model and the modified Coulomb friction model are employed to simulate pipe-soil interactions in the vertical seabed plane as well as the axial and lateral directions. Moreover, a large-scale pipe-laying experimental test system is established to carry out the model experiments of a J-lay pipeline on different seabed conditions. The static and dynamic pipe-soil interaction responses are then analyzed by the VFIFE method for a 6-inch gas pipeline J-laying on the negative sloping seabed. The influence of seabed slope type and angle and soil characteristics is further explored on the pipe-soil interaction behaviors, which provide significant evidence for the design of pipe-lay on the sloping seabed.