Numerical analysis of vortex-induced vibration on a flexible cantilever riser for deep-sea mining system

The flexible cantilever riser, as a special form of the marine riser, can be encountered in a deep-sea mining system, where the bottom of the long vertical lifting pipeline is connected with the intermediate warehouse. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of the bottom weight caused by the intermediate warehouse and the flow speed on the dynamic responses of the cantilever pipeline. A quasi-3D coupling algorithm based on the discrete vortex method and finite element method is employed to calculate the unsteady hydrodynamic forces and vortex-induced vibrations of this pipeline in the time domain, respectively. We first simulate the VIV of a long flexible riser with two fixed ends in a stepped flow to validate the feasibility of the present method. Then, systematic simulations of cross-flow VIV of the cantilever riser are carried out under a wide range of bottom weights and different current speeds. The number of the vibration mode shows the decreasing tendency with the increase of the bottom weight. In a certain range of the weight, the number of the dominant mode remains unchanged, while the vibration amplitude declines with increasing weight. An amplitude jump phenomenon can be observed when the transition of the dominant mode in two contiguous mode clusters occurs. Moreover, the higher-order modes are excited with the increase of the current speed.     

深水钻井立管建模与角度安全控制

从水面钻井平台与水下立管联合作业的安全角度出发，提出一种将钻井立管的力学响应限制特性引入水面平台动力定位闭环控制中的位置保持方法，实现水面钻井平台（或船舶）基于立管角度响应的动态定位。利用有限元方法建立包括立管系统质量、系统刚度、结构阻尼和水动力载荷在内的立管运动控制模型。联合水面浮体和水下立管的低频运动特性建立水面浮体运动偏移与水下立管顶端角度及末端角度的相对运动关系模型。在此基础上，设计基于立管运行响应的动力定位控位方法，实现对立管顶端角度及末端角度的安全控制。仿真结果表明，所提出的方法可行，在外界突变的环境载荷瞬时作用于水面浮体时，能更快地跟踪新的期望最优位置，保证钻井立管运行在安全界限内。