Advances in the prediction of spudcan punch-through in double-layered soils

Punch-through failure of jack-up spudcan foundations occurs in active oil and gas drilling exploration regions, where relatively stiff soil overlies soft marine layer. Therefore, installation of spudcan foundations in such seabed formations threatens the stability of the jack-up rig. A site-specific assessment of the potential and severity of failure must be completed before the commencement of the installation. However, the accuracy of the prediction is limited by the validity of the design method currently in use. This paper presents advances in the prediction of punch-through failure of jack-up platforms in sand/stiff clay over soft clay soils. New analytical models for spudcan installation in double-layered soils are reviewed and compared to the existing methods in the ISO 19905-1 standard and SNAME standard. The capabilities and limitations of each method are summarised and recommendations are drawn for the theoretical predictions of spudcan punch-through in double-layered soils.     

The undrained bearing capacity of a spudcan foundation under combined loading in soft clay

Mobile jack-up drilling rigs are typically supported by individual, large diameter spudcan foundations. Before deployment, the suitability of a jack-up to a location must be shown in a site-specific assessment under loads associated with a 50-year return period storm, which ultimately need to be resisted by the foundations. The capacity of the spudcans under combined vertical, horizontal and moment loading is therefore integral to the overall site-specific assessment of the jack-up.In soft clays, spudcans can penetrate deeply into the seabed, sometimes up to several footing diameters, with soil flowing around the downward penetrating footing, sealing the cavity. Although this is generally believed to provide some additional bearing capacity to the footing, no detailed study or formal guidance is available to date. This study, therefore, investigates the influence of soil back-flow on the failure mechanisms and quantifies the effect on the capacity of a spudcan under general loading through finite element analyses. A closed-form analytical expression is developed that describes the capacity envelope under combined loading, applicable to embedment depths ranging from shallow to deep.     

风电安装平台插桩过程的试验与理论研究

针对风电安装平台在多层土中的插桩过程,通过现场取样测试获取土壤的物理参数,并通过插桩试验得到其平均插桩深度,以此建立插桩过程的数值模型,对插桩阻力与深度的变化规律以及土壤的流动失效机制进行了研究。结果表明,经验法选取土壤弹性模量与实际相差较大,试验测出的平均插桩深度为7.3m;数值结果与试验结果吻合良好,证明了理论模型的正确性;土壤发生了表面隆起、空腔形成、壁面坍塌和土壤回流四种失效模式。     

自升式平台桩靴强度分析

合理的桩靴设计是立插桩式海洋自升式平台在海上安全工作的关键因素之一。以某自升式海洋平台桩靴为研究对象,利用规范和SACS软件对桩靴结构设计进行强度校核和屈曲强度分析,并对桩靴的承载力和计算方法进行研究。     

基于灰预测和粗神经网络的海洋平台逆控制研究

导管架式海洋平台在随机波浪等外载荷作用下极易产生有害振动,且其动力响应具有极强的非线性和时变性,采用被动控制方法和基于精确数学模型的主动控制方法控制海洋平台的有害振动很难达到理想的控制效果.为此文中将灰预测和粗神经网络相结合,提出了一种基于灰预测和粗神经网络的预测逆控制方法,并将其与动态刚度阵法相结合用于导管架式海洋平台的振动主动控制中.数值算例分析表明此种控制方法可有效地控制波浪和风载荷作用而引起的导管架式平台的有害振动,并能解决由于控制信号传输等原因引起的时滞问题.     

Modified environmental contour method for predicting long-term extreme responses of bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines

Predicting extreme responses is very important in designing a bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines. The commonly used method that account for the variability of the response and the environmental conditions is the full long-term analysis (FLTA), which is accurate but time consuming. It is a direct integration of all the probability distribution of short-term extremes and the environmental conditions. Since the long-term extreme responses are usually governed by very few important environmental conditions, the long-term analysis can be greatly simplified if such conditions are identified. For offshore structures, one simplified method is the environmental contour method (ECM), which uses the short-term extreme probability distribution of important environmental conditions selected on the contour surface with the relevant return periods. However, because of the inherent difference of offshore wind turbines and ordinary offshore structures, especially their non-monotonic behavior of the responses under wind loads, ECM cannot be directly applied because the environmental condition it selects is not close to the actual most important one.The paper presents a modified environmental contour method (MECM) for bottom-fixed offshore wind turbine applications. It can identify the most important environmental condition that governs the long-term extreme. The method is tested on the NREL 5 MW wind turbine supported by a simplified jacket-type support structure. Compared to the results of FLTA, MECM yields accurate results and is shown to be an efficient and reliable method for the prediction of the extreme responses of bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines.     

Confidence bounds on structural reliability estimations for offshore platforms

Second-order estimates to measure platform reliability are generated and used to provide an additional space to select safety margins appropriate to the owner's perception or for risk-averse managers. The aleatory and epistemic uncertainties in the parameters of an offshore platform are explicitly considered in the reliability analysis and the platform structural reliability becomes a random variable, assessing then the beneficial effects of a reduction on these uncertainties. One of these benefits is for risk-aversive managers who often demand additional room to make conservative decisions regarding reliability estimations. Proposed here is a procedure to generate the frequency diagram of platform reliability with the use of confidence bounds to support reliability and cost decisions based on percentiles instead of mean values. The concepts are illustrated through a typical offshore platform in Mexico. The frequency diagram of the platform reliability index is built for several alternative designs and three levels of epistemic uncertainty. The results may be applied for decision making on new designs and also on the assessment and optimal inspection, retrofit, and decommissioning of existing platforms.     

畸形波作用下半潜式平台的极限生存能力评估

极限海浪可能对海洋平台的安全造成极大的威胁,故合理地评估平台在此海况下的运动响应和系泊缆索的动张力响应对平台设计具有重要意义。文章首先利用新波理论和随机海浪理论建立了畸形波入射波模型。然后利用间接时域方法和非线性有限元法分别建立了平台主体运动和系泊缆索动力响应的求解方程,并根据导缆孔的平衡方程建立了平台主体和系泊缆索的时域耦合运动方程。最后深入分析了某半潜平台在畸形波作用下的运动响应和系泊缆索的动张力响应,对平台的极限生存能力进行了评估。     

自升式钻井平台桩靴结构强度分析

桩靴是钻井平台的重要支撑构件,其结构强度对整个钻井平台的安全起着至关重要的作用。以某自升式钻井平台桩靴为研究对象,根据ABS(美国船级社)规范要求,建立桩靴结构强度的力学模型,并合理简化,分析了预压载和自存两种工况下的设计载荷。利用有限元软件MSC.Patran/Nastran对两种工况下桩靴的强度进行分析,研究得到桩靴强度工程化分析流程以及结构强度特性,分析结果为自升式钻井平台的桩靴设计提供参考。     

自航自升式风电安装船总体设计研究

自航自升式风电安装船是一艘具备8MW及以下海上风机基础的打桩施工、塔筒吊装和风机安装能力,航区满足国际调遣的动力定位特种工程船舶。本文回顾了风电安装船的发展历程,说明了自航自升式风电安装船的基本概况,论证了作业水深、起重能力、可变载荷和定位方式等船型参数。重点研究了阻力试验结果,自航平台船员舱室问题,桩靴轻量化设计,谐波治理和连续式升降系统选型等设计要点,为同类船型开发提供参考。     

自升式钻井平台桩靴裂纹分析、处理及修复研究

桩靴是自升式平台的重要组成部分,主要作用是支撑整个平台,将平台所受的载荷传递到海床.一旦桩靴失效,将导致桩腿下沉,平台无法保持水平.文章利用有限元方法研究了自升式平台桩靴在出现裂纹后的应力水平,并研究相关的应对措施与修复方法.     

Assessing appropriate stiffness levels for spudcan foundations on dense sand

Before a jack-up can operate at a given location, a site-specific assessment of its ability to withstand a design storm during operation must be performed. During this assessment, the complex state of stress and strain under a spudcan is usually simplified to a value of foundation stiffness that is integrated as a boundary condition into the structural analysis. Soil stiffness is a critical parameter affecting the foundation and structural load distribution and displacements, and the jack-up natural period and dynamic response. The level of spudcan stiffness is an area of intense interest and debate. This paper assesses appropriate stiffness levels for numerical simulation. Utilising results from a detailed “pushover” experiment of a three-legged model jack-up on dense sand, the paper compares the experimental pushover loads and displacements on the hull and spudcans to numerical simulations using different assumptions of spudcan stiffness. These include pinned and encastré footings, linear springs and a force-resultant model based on displacement-hardening plasticity theory. Constant stiffness levels are shown to be inadequate in simulating the experimental pushover test. The non-linear degradation of stiffness associated with the latter force-resultant model is critical.     

随机波浪中船体变形转角的估算方法及应用

某些船舶,因作业需要,对其船体的姿态角(刚体的纵摇角 弹性体变形的转角)提出了预报的要求,本文以船体纵向角位移为例,采用二维船体梁模态叠加方法和最大熵原理估算船体在随机波激励下纵向变形转角的响应特征值,并以某快速船为例,估算该船的纵向变形转角,供设计使用者参考,其计算的思路也可应用于其它方向的变形转角估算。     

海上风机支撑结构的时域和频域疲劳对比研究

对海上风机支撑结构进行动力响应分析,求出结构危险节点的载荷谱和功率谱密度函数,结合疲劳损伤模型和Dirlik概率模型,分别在时域和频域内对支撑结构进行疲劳寿命分析.由于时域法计算疲劳寿命需进行应力循环计数,这一过程需处理的数据庞大,耗时长.频域法省去应力循环计数,代之以概率密度函数,可相对准确、快速地计算结构的疲劳寿命.分析结果表明,采用Dirlik概率模型的频域分析法能较准确地反映海上风机支撑结构在随机载荷作用下的疲劳损伤情况,计算结果误差在可接受范围内.     

自升式平台桩靴/地基承载力的数值分析

桩靴/地基承载力的准确预报是确保自升式平台进行海上插桩作业安全性的重要前提,常规的规范算法在处理复杂地基条件时存在困难。基于非线性数值分析方法,在对加载点位置、网格尺寸、地基边界等关键技术进行研究的基础上,以某400ft水深自升式平台为例,分别对海底均质土和成层土的承载力进行了研究。同时,对各土层参数的影响进行了详细分析,为探索插桩过程中地基破坏原理和承载力计算提供了一些参考。     

自升式钻井平台抗滑移能力分析

在理论公式的基础上,通过Abaqus软件模拟桩靴在土壤中的滑移过程,建立一种分析桩靴抗滑移阻力数值方法.首先研究各船级社抗滑移理论公式;在此基础上,建立桩靴-土系统有限元模型,利用CEL方法,建立研究所需工况,研究土体受力产生流动变形,得出抗滑移阻力数值解和土壤流动机制;最后将抗滑移阻力理论解与数值解进行对比分析与讨论.弥补现有理论公式不足,为计算桩靴抗滑移阻力提供一种精确的方法.     

自升式服务平台桩靴结构优化设计

桩靴作为自升式平台的重要结构之一，在整个平台的就位和作业等方面发挥着重要作用。针对350ft自升式多功能服务平台的2种桩靴结构形式，应用MSC Patran和Nastran建立有限元模型，依据美国船级社相关规范对不同工况下2种不同形式桩靴的强度进行评估，并分别对2种桩靴的质量进行统计。对计算结果进行分析比较，并提出一些可行性建议。     

Assessment of offshore structures under extreme wave conditions by Modified Endurance Wave Analysis

Recently, various approaches have been introduced to estimate the response of offshore structures in different sea states by stepwisely intensifying records. In this article, a more practical approach entitled Modified Endurance Wave Analysis (MEWA) considering the random and probabilistic nature of wave loading and utilizing optimal time duration is introduced. Generation procedure of this approach is described based on two practical wave theories: random and constrained new-wave. In addition, assessment of a simplified model representing a typical fixed offshore platform under extreme wave conditions in the Persian Gulf is performed making use of MEWA. A comparative analysis has been also carried out to investigate the accuracy and computational costs of MEWA. The results indicate that MEWA can be a time-saving and also reliable method both in design and assessment of offshore platforms.     

Controlled installation of spudcan foundations on loose sand overlying weak clay

Offshore jack-up rigs are often used for site exploration and oil well drilling. The footings of jack-up rigs are known as spudcan foundations. The risk of rapid uncontrolled penetration of spudcan in seabed (“punch-through”) exposes jack-ups to significant risk during installation in strong over weak layered seabeds. An example for this is a thin loose sand layer overlying a weaker stratum of clay. To prevent spudcans from “punch-through”, an in-situ measurement concept is suggested in this paper to control the installation process of spudcan foundations. First, three-dimensional finite element studies using a Coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian method are carried out to simulate the penetration process. The numerical results have been validated with existing analytical solutions and centrifuge model test data. Furthermore, parametric studies are carried out to quantify the influences of the sand thickness and shear strength of the clay on the bearing capacity of spudcans. Based on the numerical studies an idea for the development of an in-situ measurement concept is suggested to control the spudcan penetration process in-situ.     

自升式平台层状地基条件下插桩过程数值模拟研究

对于采用独立式桩靴结构的自升式平台,桩靴的入泥深度是保障平台安全作业的关键问题之一。采用ABAQUS软件的Explicit求解器,以位移增量步方式计算地基极限承载力;在施加初始地应力场的前提下,引入无限元边界处理方法,考虑了土壤无限大边界条件的影响,并使用ALE自适应网格技术有效地解决了土壤模型的大变形问题;最后,将有限元计算与经验公式计算进行比对分析。结果表明,在一定预压载荷条件下,有限元计算结果能较全面精确地反映插桩结果,弥补经验公式考虑参数单一、无法解决层状土承载力之间不连续问题以及无法动态模拟插桩过程的不足。