Effect of the Boundary Conditions on the Dynamic Behaviours of Subsea Free-Spanning Pipelines

Abstract

This paper establishes a fast and accurate solution of the dynamic behaviours of subsea free-spanning pipelines under four different boundary conditions, based on GITT - the generalised integral transform technique. The fluid-structure interaction model is proposed by combining a linear structural equation and a non-linear distributed wake oscillator model, which simulates the effect of external current acting on the pipeline. The eigenvalue problems for the cross-flow vibration of the free-spanning submarine pipeline conveying internal fluid for four different boundary conditions are examined. The solution method of the natural frequency based on GITT is proposed. The explicit analytical formulae for the cross-flow displacement of the pipeline free span are derived, and the mode shapes and dynamic behaviours of the pipeline free span are discussed with different boundary conditions. The methodology and results in this paper can also expand to solving even more complicated boundary-value problems.