Study of the deep-sea pipeline walking with the consideration of the influence of pre-determined global buckling

Abstract

Deep-sea pipelines are important facilities for transporting hydrocarbon resources in offshore oil development projects. Due to the weak axial soil resistance and the cyclic variation of temperature, the deep-sea pipeline walks axially after several loading cycles, threatening the integer of the connecters. The walking phenomenon is well studied in recent years, while the walking with consideration of the influence of buckling deformation is barely considered. This paper analysed this topic with theoretical method, and the analytical solutions for predicting walking distances of each pipeline sections are proposed. Then, the finite element (FE) method is used and a serious of FE models are established to verify the proposed analytical solutions. Meanwhile, the related three issues are discussed based on the analytical and FE method. The coupled walking and buckling deformation is studied, and the interaction between the walking and buckling is revealed.