Comparative Study of Vortex-Induced Vibration of FRP Composite Risers with Large Length to Diameter Ratio Under Different Environmental Situations

Abstract

The increasing attraction of crude resources on the ocean floor leads to the development of risers, which are an indispensable component of an offshore oil and gas exploitation structure. High-grade steel is normally utilized for risers, however, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite risers have become a feasible and economical alternative due to the desirable properties of the material. A comparative study of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of FRP composite risers with two designed geometries were conducted and an X80 steel riser was used as the benchmark. The length to diameter ratios of all three risers were set to 100 and their VIV responses under different environmental situations, including the natural frequencies, global displacements, global stresses and the stress distributions in every composite layers, were obtained using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation with coupled fluid⁻structure interaction. The VIV characteristics of both FRP composite risers and their distinction compared with that of steel risers were analyzed and discussed. From this paper, the dynamic characteristics in different environmental situations of VIV for FRP composite risers can be further understood.

Keywords

• FRP composite riser with large length to diameter ratio
• vortex-induced vibration
• 3D finite element modelling
• CFD simulation
• fluid–structure interaction