辽河海南8油田施工技术研究

海南8油田地处辽河滩海地区，区内水浅滩缓，潮差最大在5m以上，而且涨潮有水，落潮为滩，因此常规海上施工船舶很难进入。鉴于此，本文提出了应用适合辽河滩海地区的“能座底、吃水浅”的综合作业船来施工海底管线和栈桥的方法。     

改进的等效线性化计算模型及在结构海床耦合系统动力分析中的应用

为探究结构-波浪-海床耦合系统的失稳破坏机理并建立能反映此机理的计算模型,将改进的哈丁模型引入等效线性化方法,使其能反映载荷频率、循环周次以及土体平均有效主应力等多因素的影响。该模型运用于结构-波浪-海床耦合系统的非线性动力响应分析,一方面与标准哈丁模型的计算结果以及在波浪水槽进行的模型实验进行了比较,另方面着重对土体模量退化以及接触面附近土体的强度软化进行了考察,获得了一些明确的认识。     

ABAQUS–OlaFlow integrated numerical model for fluid–seabed–structure interaction

In this study, a new one-way integrated numerical model for fluid–seabed–structure interaction is established by integrating the finite element software, ABAQUS, and the open-source fluid dynamics package, OlaFlow. In this new model, the generation and propagation of ocean waves as well as the seepage flow in a porous medium are controlled by OlaFlow; concurrently, the wave-induced dynamic responses of a porous seabed and marine structures are governed by ABAQUS. The reliability of this new model is validated by an analytical solution and a series of wave flume tests. The comparison results show that the new established model has high reliability and feasibility. Finally, this new integrated model is utilized for investigating the wave-induced dynamics of a composite breakwater and its seabed foundation as well as to evaluate the residual horizontal sliding displacement of the caisson of this composite breakwater under wave impact. Because this new integrated numerical model can fully utilize the advantages of both ABAQUS and OlaFlow, it is expected to have broad prospects for application in engineering practice.     

Understanding ship-grounding events

The paper presents a simple procedure to estimate the damage to a ship bottom and the associated seabed topology that results from a dynamic grounding event. The seabed is modeled as a rigid body and parameterized by a quadratic surface, i.e., a paraboloid, which can in principle model a wide range of seabed topologies. A nonlinear finite element program (LS-DYNA) is used to simulate the contact force versus the lateral penetration, from which the horizontal force component of powered grounding is estimated. The simplified procedure for analyzing dynamic and static grounding events is outlined. Simulations are performed for different ship speeds and for different initial levels of obstruction over the keel. It is shown that a static approach may replace the dynamic grounding simulation, thereby considerably reducing the computational work. The static approach allows for the quick estimation of the energy absorption during powered grounding, which is imperative for decision making during critical situations. The ultimate goal of the study is to provide a near real-time prediction of the risk of rupture of the cargo tanks and hull girder failure. Moreover, the residual strength of damaged ships is an important issue that is related to operations involved in the salvage of wrecked vessels, such as re-floatation and towing.     

The Next Step of Devising China's Legal Regime for Deep Seabed Mining—The Environmental Regulation under China's Deep Seabed Mining Law

The due diligence obligation of sponsoring states requires state parties to enact laws and take administrative measures to secure effective regulation of the contractors of deep seabed mining and ensure that the contractors comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and regulations issued by International Seabed Authority (ISA). China has invested significantly in the exploration and exploitation of the deep seabed resources in the Area and China enacted its deep seabed mining law (DSM Law) in 2016 to fulfill its due diligence obligation as a sponsoring state. Environmental regulation is an important part of devising the international legal regime of deep seabed mining, and the ISA has been in the process of drafting Environmental Regulations. It is the sponsoring states' obligation to ensure that the contractors comply with the environmental rules issued by the ISA. China's DSM Law has many provisions stating the environmental obligations of its contractors; however, these provisions are phrased in rather general terms. It is necessary for China to take the next step as a sponsoring state and promulgate its domestic environmental regulation under its DSM Law in order to further fulfill its due diligence obligation. A procedure-oriented approach should be adopted for drafting the environmental regulation under China's DSM Law. Ideally, the environmental regulation under China's DSM Law should specify the rights and obligations of the contractors and domestic regulatory agency, delineating the environmental measures that the contractors need to take in different stages of exploring and exploiting deep seabed resources in order to comply with the environmental rules issued by the ISA.     

Assessment of submarine pipeline damages subjected to falling object impact considering the effect of seabed

Untrenched submarine pipelines lying on the seabed are vulnerable and can be damaged by the impact of falling objects. This may cause significant economic costs for repair and even environmental contamination in case of rupture and oil leakage. This paper presents assessment of submarine pipeline damage subjected to falling object impact considering the effect of seabed through nonlinear explicit dynamic finite element modelling. The numerical model was first verified against existing experimental results and established studies. A total of 209 cases of parametric study was then conducted to assess pipeline damage by accounting for various factors, including object mass, velocity and seabed conditions. The results show that the pipeline damage can be directly related to the impact kinetic energy of the falling object for pipelines sitting on rigid bed. In other words, falling objects with the same impact energy (while mass and velocity may vary) cause the same damage to a pipeline. For a pipeline on a soil seabed, however, this study shows that pipeline damage is no longer simplistically determined by the impact kinetic energy of the falling objects. Falling objects with different mass and velocity may cause different pipeline damages, even though the impact energy is the same. It is interesting to find out that objects with a smaller mass (i.e. higher velocity) tend to cause greater damage than objects with a greater mass (i.e. lower velocity), when the total impact kinetic energy of the falling objects is the same. These observations are explored in this paper, which is explained with the variation of the energy absorption due to the existence of soil seabed.     

Influence of seabed trench formation on fatigue performance of steel catenary risers in touchdown zone

The subsea survey results using remote operating vehicles (ROV) show that trenches with a depth of several riser diameters can be developed underneath the steel catenary risers (SCR). Therefore, an important question in respect of the riser–seabed interaction is, how the trench formation beneath the riser affects the riser fatigue performance in the touchdown zone. A common methodology reported in literature to study the impact of trench formation on riser fatigue life is the insertion of an artificial mathematical expression of the riser profile into the seabed. This study shows that such methodology can be inconsistent and leading to contradictory results. The current paper has employed ABAQUS finite element software and coded a non-linear soil hysteretic model to automatically simulate the variable seabed stiffness and the gradual trench development through the touchdown zone. In this method, the seabed model parameters are initially adjusted to extreme values allowing trench with desired depth to be developed over a moderate number of displacement cycles of the SCR. The design wave scatter diagram is then applied, simulating a generic Spar system, after switching the model parameters to values with normal range. The paper presents the impact of trenches of different depths on the fatigue performance of SCRs in the touchdown zone.