Effect of Top Tension on Vortex-Induced Vibration of Deep-Sea Risers

Abstract

With the increase of water depth, the design and use of the top-tensioned risers (TTR) are facing more and more challenges. This research presents the effect of top tension on dynamic behavior of deep-sea risers by means of numerical simulations and experiments. First, the governing equation of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of TTR based on Euler-Bernoulli theory and Van der Pol wake-oscillator model was established, and the effect of top tension on natural vibration of TTR was discussed. Then, the dynamic response of TTR in shear current was calculated numerically by finite difference method. The displacement, bending stress and vibration frequency of TTR with the variation of top tension were investigated. Finally, a VIV experiment of a 5 m long flexible top-tensioned model was carried out at the towing tank of Tianjin University. The results show that the vibration displacement of TTR increases and the bending stress decreases as the top tension increases. The dominant frequency of VIV of TTR is controlled by the current velocity and is barely influenced by the top tension. With the increase of top tension, the natural frequency of TTR increases, the lower order modes are excited in the same current.

Keywords

• deep-sea riser
• top tension
• vortex-induced vibration
• numerical simulation
• experiment