Numerical study of engineering options for protection of offshore pipelines

Abstract

Offshore pipelines have been commonly used in the transportation of marine energy resources that is one of the main concerns of offshore oil and gas industry. In general, seabed stability around a pipeline and its resultant damage of the pipeline is one of the critical factors to be considered in the design of offshore pipeline project. In this study, an integrated numerical model for wave-seabed interactions around a subsea pipeline is established using OpenFOAM. The numerical examples demonstrate that a significant influence of different configurations of the protective layer on the distribution of excess pore-water pressure near the pipeline, which further affects the occurrence of seabed liquefaction. Based on the proposed model, four different engineering options for offshore pipeline protection are examined through numerical simulation.