PIPE/SOIL INTERACTION EFFECT ON THERMO-MECHANICAL RESPONSE OF SUBSEA PIPELINES

Offshore pipelines are typically designed to operate in high pressure and high temperature loading conditions.Operational loads potentially lead to pipe expansion, whereas seabed resistance force act to resist pipeline movement. Lateral deflection of exposed pipelines subject to high axial loads is known as lateral buckling phenomena. Well-ordered deformation can be a challenge during the design phase and uncontrolled movements may result in structural integrity problems and catastrophic failure [1]. Thermo-mechanical behavior strongly depends on pipe-soil interaction [2]. Influence of various assumptions for pipe-soil interaction models on lateral buckling performance is investigated in this paper.