Numerical simulation on dynamics of suction piles during lowering operations Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • Suction piles are used for anchoring mooring lines at the seafloor. One of the challenges of their installation is the occurrence of the heave resonance and the heave induced pitch resonance during the lowering process. To predict and potentially mitigate the heave/pitch resonance of the pile-cable system during the lowering process, it is significant to understand the mechanism of heave induced pitch resonance and estimate the added-mass and damping coefficients of the pile-cable system accurately. Both the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation in this study are verified by the model tests of a suction pile at the Haynes Coastal Engineering Laboratory of Texas A&M University. The conclusions can be used to determine the total heave added-mass and damping coefficients of a pile and the natural heave frequency of the pile-cable system. In addition, the heave induced pitch resonance can also be predicted by the Mathieu instability diagram, that is, it occurs when 1) the natural pitch frequency is roughly equal to one half of the natural heave frequency and 2) the heave excitation frequency is approximately equal to the natural heave frequency. If only one of the two conditions is satisfied, no significant pitch resonance will occur. Copyright 2011 by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE).

published proceedings

  • Proceedings of the International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference

author list (cited authors)

  • Huang, L., Zhang, J., Yu, X., Randall, R. E., & Wilde, B.

complete list of authors

  • Huang, L||Zhang, J||Yu, X||Randall, RE||Wilde, B

publication date

  • September 2011