Subsea Pipeline Vibration Dampers: Mitigation of Vortex Induced Vibrations

Abstract

A study is presented of the potential capacity of pipeline vibration dampers (PVDs) to mitigate vortex induced vibration (VIV) for subsea pipeline spans. The study also makes evaluations for VIV fatigue damage reductions that could be accomplished by PVDs for the spans. While it is recognized that helical strakes and other similar VIV suppression devices are widely used, PVDs are studied herein as a potential standalone option for VIV mitigation or a tool that can be used in combination with strakes. Solutions are presented which indicate that PVDs can substantially reduce VIV of subsea pipeline spans, and there is potential to develop them into practical design tools for such spans. The study is based on the use of representative subsea pipeline span conditions.