Time domain approach for coupled cross-flow and in-line VIV induced fatigue damage of steel catenary riser at touchdown zone

Abstract

Existing VIV prediction approaches for steel catenary riser (SCR) typically employ truncation model without considering the interaction between the SCR and soil, and only allow for cross-flow (CF) VIV. In this study, a time domain approach accounting for the SCR-soil interaction is proposed to predict the CF and in-line (IL) VIV induced fatigue damage of a SCR at touchdown zone (TDZ). The hydrodynamic force resulting from the vortex shedding is modeled using the forced oscillation test data of a rigid cylinder and an empirical damping model, which are defined as functions of the non-dimensional dominant frequency and amplitude of the SCR response. Due to the coupling effect, the IL VIV force is magnified based on the CF VIV amplitude. By combining a linear hysteretic interaction model with a trench shape model, some particular phenomena during the vertical SCR-soil interaction are captured and qualitatively discussed, while for the horizontal direction, the seabed is simplified as nonlinear spring model. Based on these models, parametric studies are conducted to broaden the understanding of the sensitivity of VIV induced fatigue damage to the seabed characteristic. The results indicate trench depth, vertical and lateral stiffness, and clay suction are significantly affect the VIV induced maximum fatigue damage at TDZ.