Experimental and theoretical studies on lateral buckling of submarine pipelines

Global buckling of a submarine pipeline during high pressure/high temperature (HP/HT) operation results in a loss of pipeline stability that is similar to a bar in compression; this phenomenon constitutes one of the key factors affecting pipeline integrity and design. To intuitively study the buckling response, a test system was designed that can account for thermal loading and pipe-soil interactions, and this system was used to perform a series of small-scale model tests on the lateral buckling of submarine pipelines with different initial imperfections. Based on the hat-shaped buckling profiles of the test pipelines, a new buckling mode called "hat-shaped buckling" was proposed. In an attempt to study the conditions under which the pipeline exhibits this hat-shaped buckling mode, the changing law of the buckling mode was investigated through finite element analyses of pipelines with different parameters, including the length of the pipeline and the amplitude and wavelength of the initial imperfection. Subsequently, an analytical solution for calculating the buckling amplitude of a pipeline with a hat-shaped buckling profile was proposed. The theoretical solution was compared to the experimental data, which verified the feasibility of the model in calculating pipeline buckling deformation. The experimental data, the buckling mode based on these data and the corresponding analytical model discussed herein may provide a reference for future experimental studies of pipeline buckling.     

An expeditious algebraic formulation to the buckling critical load of risers under dynamic compression

Dynamic compression of risers can play an important role in the structural stability of submerged pipes in catenary-like configuration. In this paper, the analytical formulation for the buckling critical load, developed in the early 2000's, is revisited and extended to cover a wider range of practical cases. A purely algebraic expression for the critical load is provided, eliminating the original formulation requirement related to solving transcendental equations, for both free and anchored risers. The analytic formulations and respective algebraic approximations are compared with numerical simulations, presenting a fairly good agreement. A discussion on the differences and similarities of each formulation ends this paper, highlighting their range of validity. Also, from the comparison, the analytical formulation developed in this work was more suitable for precise and fast determination of the critical buckling load for both riser types, rigid and flexible, and for most typical operating conditions. The proposed algebraic expressions were highly accurate and may substitute the previous analytical formulations for critical load prediction.     

铁路钢管混凝土系杆拱桥动力特性及地震响应分析

以某铁路钢管混凝土系杆拱桥为研究对象,运用有限元分析软件ANSYS建立了其空间杆系有限元 模型,其中拱肋与系梁采用空间梁单元模拟,吊杆采用空间杆单元模拟,对其动力特性进行了分析;在此基础上运用时程分析方法分别计算了该桥在竖向和纵向地震力组合以及竖向和横向地震力组合两种工况下的地震响应,得到了主拱控制截面在两种荷载工况下的最大内力和最大位移响应,对其抗震性能进行了分析评价.结果表明：该铁路系杆拱桥动力特性总体体现为刚性拱桥的动力特征,横桥向刚度相对较弱,竖向地震力作用下的响应较大,应引起设计注意.研究可为同类型的铁路刚性拱桥抗震设计提供理论依据.     

Evaluation of ultimate strength of stiffened panels under longitudinal thrust

A series of collapse analyses is performed applying nonlinear FEM on stiffened panels subjected to longitudinal thrust. MSC.Marc is used. Numbers, types and sizes of stiffeners are varied and so slenderness ratio as well as aspect ratio of local panels partitioned by stiffeners keeping the spacing between adjacent longitudinal stiffeners the same. Initial deflection of a thin-horse mode is imposed on local panels and that of flexural buckling and tripping modes on stiffeners to represent actual initial deflection in stiffened panels in ship structures. On the basis of the calculated results, buckling/plastic collapse behaviour of stiffened panels under longitudinal thrust is investigated. The calculated ultimate strength are compared with those obtained by applying several existing methods such as CSR for bulk carriers and PULS. Simple formulas for stiffened panels, of which collapse is dominated fundamentally by the collapse of local panels between longitudinal stiffeners, are also examined if they accurately estimate the ultimate strength. Through comparison of the estimated results with the FEM results, it has been concluded that PULS and modified FYH formulas fundamentally give good estimation of the ultimate strength of stiffened panels under longitudinal thrust.     

Influence of boundary conditions on the collapse behaviour of stiffened panels under combined loads

A series of finite element analyses are conducted to investigate the influence of boundary conditions and geometry of the model on the predicted collapse behaviour of stiffened panels. Periodic and symmetric boundary conditions in the longitudinal direction are used to calculate the ultimate strength of stiffened panels under combined biaxial thrust and lateral pressure. The calculated ultimate strength of stiffened panels are compared with those by different FEM (finite element method) code and are assessed. The periodic boundary condition in the longitudinal direction for two spans or bays model provides an appropriate modelling to a continuous stiffened panel and can consider both odd and even number of half waves and thus, is considered to introduce the smaller model uncertainty for the analysis of a continuous stiffened panel.     

新概念张力腿平台水动力性能分析

张力腿平台对水深具有高度敏感性,随水深变化,垂直面内的运动受到显著影响。对于超深水情况,对张力筋腱的设计提出更高的要求。为了改善这一状况,提出了一种新概念张力腿平台设计方案——Tension Based Tension Leg Platform(TBLP),它可以成倍地增加TLP适用的水深范围。对于已经使用的中等水深下的传统型的TLP,通过增加张力基底,就可以将其使用于更深的海域。针对这一新型TBLP概念,对典型的传统型TLP和TBLP水动力性能进行了初步分析比较,得出TBLP优于常规设计的水动力性能。     

Wave responses of a coastal cargo ship consisting of unit modules

This article discusses the dynamic responses of a coastal cargo ship that consists of unit modules with advance forward speed in waves. We introduce a simple way of connecting the modules that has enough capability to link the modular parts of the ship as a unified whole. The flexible connection consists of male and female rubber fenders with additional pretensioned ropes. This kind of connection system is proposed for use in coastal regions with relatively calm waters wherein the modular ship can move at a moderate speed. The modules are assumed to be rigid compared to the connections. Computations were performed to investigate the vertical elastic responses of four modules connected end-to-end with the assumption that in the simple hinge, no gaps occur in the flexible rubber connections between adjacent modules. A simple method, which is an extension of the computational analysis we reported previously, is presented to study the hydroelasticity and rope tension forces of the modular ship with forward speed in waves. Experiments with a three-dimensional model at Froude numbers of 0 and 0.16 in head waves were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the calculation method. In the experiments, deflections for each part were measured using calibrated potentiometers. Force transducers were used to measure the rope tension force between the modules of the articulated cargo ship. Some slight differences were observed, but generally the calculated results showed the same trends as the experimental values.     

Compressive tests on short continuous panels

Results of eight tests on stiffened panels under axial compression until collapse and beyond are presented. The tests consider panels with different combinations of mechanical material properties and geometric configurations for the stiffeners including the use of ‘U’-shaped stiffeners. The specimens are three bay panels with associated plate made of high tensile steel S690. Four different configurations are considered for the stiffeners that are made of mild or high tensile steel for bar stiffeners and mild steel for ‘L’ and ‘U’ stiffeners. The influence of the stiffener's geometry on the ultimate strength of the stiffened panels under compression is analyzed.     

纵环加筋圆柱薄壳的塑性屈曲试验与分析

本文进行了纵环加筋圆柱薄壳在均布外压作用下的屈曲试验和分析研究。采用塑性形变理论和Misos屈服准则，在能量原理基础上导出了壳体简明的屈曲分析公式。给出了四个铝合金模型的屈曲破坏试验结果，描述了模型的破坏特征和破坏过程。试验及数值分析结果表明，在一定参数范围内，壳体将发生总体塑性屈曲破坏，且破坏表现为一个过程，局部屈曲将影响到总体屈曲临界压力。本文提供的总体屈曲简明分析方法具有较好的精度，可供初步设计时使用。     

超大型海洋浮式结构物动力特性研究综述

对于超大型海洋浮式结构物的研究正日益受到重视。在研制超大型海洋浮式结构过程中需要解决的一项最具挑战性的关键技术问题是它在海洋环境中的动力特性预报方法。国内外许多人士都对这一问题正在开展研究。本文对这一领域的研究现状作一回顾，为进一步开展深入研究提供基础。