A mechanical model for deepwater steel catenary riser transfer process during installation

Abstract

Steel catenary risers are widely used in the development of marine oil and gas. Deepwater installation is an important procedure that will affect the service life of steel catenary risers. A comprehensive study of a mechanical model for the deepwater steel catenary riser transfer process during installation is performed in this paper. This model is derived on the basis of large deformation beam theory, the catenary method and the Winkler foundation model. Numerical analysis is also undertaken to investigate the factors influencing the transfer process of deepwater steel catenary risers during installation. The model presented is able to complete the transfer process through controlling the length of the cables from the installation vessel and the platform. The procedure can be applied to the design of deepwater steel catenary riser installations.