J. Ocean Univ.

China (Oceanic and Coastal Sea Research)

DOI 10.1007/s11802-010-0001-4 ISSN 1672-5182, 2010 9 (1): 1-10 http://www.ouc.edu.cn/xbywb/ E-mail:xbywb@ouc.edu.cn

Doctor Forum

Calculation of Maximum Allowable Free Span Length and Safety Assessment of the DF1-1 Submarine Pipeline
XU Jishang1), 2), LI Guangxue1), 2), *, Juan J. Horrillo3), YANG Rongmin1), 2), and CAO Lihua1), 2)
1) College of Marine Geo-sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, P. R. China 2) Key Laboratory of Submarine Sciences and Exploration Technology, the Ministry of Education of China, Qingdao 266100, P. R. China 3) Department of Maritime Systems Engineering, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77554, USA (Received March 25, 2009; revised June 4, 2009; accepted October 15, 2009) Ocean University of China, Science Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 Abstract The DF1-1 submarine pipeline was investigated using a dual-frequency side-scan sonar and a swath sounder system. More than a hundred scour pits under the pipeline were found, most of which have caused the span of the pipeline to increase and threatened its safety. The maximum allowable free span length (MAFSL) of the pipeline was determined through the limitations regarding maximum allowable stress under static or quasi-static loads and the onset of Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV) under different hydrodynamic actions. The results show that the MAFSL under static conditions is 56 m. However, the MAFSLs are 30 m and 20 m under ordinary weather conditions and hurricane-induced currents for the 100-year return period, respectively, to avoid VIV as calculated by using the highest safety class factor. It is suggested that spanning pipelines longer than 20 m should be supported. Additionally, eight successive spans which may also threaten the pipeline were proposed. The most hazardous scour pits are along the pipeline section from KP42 to KP51. Key words submarine pipeline; scour; span; safety assessment; Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV); maximum allowable span length

1 Introduction
Submarine pipelines are widely used in offshore oil and gas industries. When a pipeline is placed on a plane bed, the originally uniformly distributed flow is disturbed by the pipeline, which may cause the acceleration of local flow in the vicinity of the obstruction, resulting in scour pits under the pipeline. Once a free span above a scour pit is longer than the maximum allowable free span length (MAFSL), the spanning pipeline is subject to Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV) due to current and wave action. These vibration actions over time can lead to fatigue failure of the pipeline. In addition, for long free spans, the weight load of the unsupported pipeline will cause the spanning pipeline to sag, adding hazards to the safety of the pipeline. Thus, the determination of the MAFSL under various environments becomes an important task in designing new pipelines and troubleshooting existing pipelines. The MAFSL can be determined through limitations regarding the maximum allowable stress under static or quasi-static loads and the onset of VIV under hydrodynamic actions. Those two methods are called static analysis and dynamic analysis, respectively, and the shorter
* Corresponding author. Tel: 0086-532-66782542 E-mail: estuary@ouc.edu.cn

length found by comparing the two methods can be chosen as the MAFSL (Choi, 2001). The static analysis was developed in the last two decades of the 20th century and, being relatively straightforward, remains unchanged during this decade. Mouselli (1981) firstly gave a functional relationship between the maximum dimensionless bending stress and dimensionless free span length. ASME B31.8 (1995) specified a set of longitudinal and combined stress limits used for calculating MAFSL. MMS (1997) incorporated static analysis into its Combined Analysis Method (CAM). A considerable amount of work has been conducted to develop methods for assess VIV and to determine the allowable length of free span pipelines (dynamic analysis). Anfinsen (1995) reviewed the important parameters in free span pipeline design. Mork and Vitali (1996) derived a cross-flow VIV analysis method. Xu et al. (1999) developed a fatigue damage method to determine the span length of multi-span pipelines under wave-dominant situations, and then this method was adopted by Bai (2001). Choi (2001) established a rigorous procedure to analyze the free spans of offshore pipelines. Official guidelines, such as DNV (2002) and MMS (1997), also provided rational criteria and guidance on MAFSL determination and fatigue design of free spanning pipelines subject to combined wave and current loads. With these methodological developments, methods for assessment of

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pipeline free spans have been remarkably improved in recent years. Among all of the above-mentioned methods, the combined analysis method (CAM) provided by MMS (1997) is a typical, useful, simple and effective method to evaluate the MAFSL for submarine pipelines. The CAM includes both static analysis and dynamic analysis methods and has the following properties: 1) it considers as many variables as possible that influence free span static and dynamic responses; 2) the selected variables can be accurately obtained from published data or field investigations; 3) the method can be easily implemented by hand or with the assistance of a computerized spreadsheet. This method is also employed and recommended by Yao (2004). During a route survey of the DF1-1 submarine pipeline from December 2006 to February 2007, more than a hundred scour pits under the pipeline were found, most of which had caused formation of pipeline spans and threatened the safety of the pipeline. The purpose of this study is to calculate the MAFSL through both static and dynamic methods, analyze the safety of the pipeline under

different hydrodynamic conditions, and provide the locations of the existing free spans that pose threats to the pipeline operation.

2 Regional Settings Around DF1-1 Submarine Pipeline Route

Morphological settings The DF1-1 submarine pipeline lies off the west coast of Dongfang, Hainan Island (Fig.1). The total length of the pipeline is more than 100 km, the maximum depth (73 m) being at the CEP (Central Platform). According to the topographical characteristics along the route of the pipeline, the route can be divided into three regimes (Fig.2), i.e., (I) shallow water regime (LandKP89, KP denotes the distance to the CEP in unit of km), where the seabed is relatively flat with an average slope of 12.4; (II) sand ridges and sand-waves regime (KP89KP57.5), where exist many sand ridges and sand waves; (III) deep water regime (KP57.5CEP) (Cao et al., 2006), where the original seabed is rather flat with an average slope of 0.5.

Fig.1 Location of the DF1-1 submarine pipeline and sites of current measurement.

Fig.2 Seabed topography along the route of the pipeline (Cao et al., 2006).

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During this field investigation, more than a hundred scour pits were found in the deep water regime, where the pits were induced by local scouring due to flow turbulence and acceleration effects. However, very limited scour pits were found in the other two regimes, where the spanning was possibly caused by moving sand waves and local scours, as the pipeline was laid artificially with instruments before this investigation. Therefore, this paper focuses on evaluating the safety of the spanning pipeline in the deep water regime. Surface sediments The surface sediments of the upper 14 m are mainly soft cohesive mud, muddy clay, silty clay or clay silt, with wet bulk density of 14401560 kN m-3 (Liu et al. 2004). Liu et al. (2004) analyzed the sediment properties of the study area, and reported that the soil consists of sand, silt and clay at the average contents of 10.59%, 45.39% and 36.82%, respectively, with liquid limits of 25.72%29.06% and a plastic limit of 10.14%.

Waves Waves have very slight effects on the seabed in the study area except for hurricane- and storm-generated waves. Most wave heights in the study area are about 0.51.4 m, with an occurrence probability of 83.2%, while the occurrence probability of wave heights smaller than 1.5 m is 97.5%, and wave heights larger than 3 m seldom occur in the area. The minimum and maximum monthaveraged wave periods are about 3.8 s and 4.3 s, which occur in August and April, respectively (the Compile Committee of China Bay Records, 1999). Tidal currents Many researchers have measured the current in and near the study area, the sites of their current measurement are shown in Fig.1, and the measured maximum near-bed current velocities are listed in Table 1. It can be seen from Table 1 that the current is strong in the area, although the maximum near-bed current varies between 0.400.91 m s-1 as measured by different researchers.

Table 1 In-situ current in and near the study area measured by different researchers
Author Xia et al. (2001) Location Maximum near-bed velocity (m s-1) Time of measurement 1852N 0.68 January 1997 10820E 1837N Chen et al. (2007) 0.40 May 4, 2004May 14, 2004 10744E 1736N Wang (2007) 0.77 July 1, 2005August 19, 2005 10824E 0.91 Unknown Wang et al. (2007) See Fig.1 1851N Bai et al. (2008) 0.86 August 13, 2006January 26, 2007 10817E Notes: Wang et al. (2007) did not provide the coordinates of this site. The location of this site in Fig.1 was mapped by projecting the map provided in their paper.

Hurricanes and tropical storms The study area is often hit by hurricanes and storms. The annual frequency of hurricanes in and near the area during 19542002 was 2.6 (Huang and Chen, 2005), while during 19701990 it was 3.2 (Kong, 1997). On the basis of hindcasting the severest 75 tropical cyclones which affected the area in 1945 1991, Qiao et al. (1997) proposed the wind speed, windgenerated wave height and wave period for different return periods. According to the wind speed provided by Qiao et al. (1997), the wind-induced currents during hurricanes for different return periods were estimated (see Section 5).

The side-scan sonar image of the previous investigation before the laying of the pipeline showed low backscatter, because the surface sediments are mainly soft cohesive mud, muddy clay, silty clay or clay silt. However, the side-scan sonar during this new survey showed that the backscatter near the pipeline was relatively high (Fig.3), which indicates that the sediments near the pipeline are becoming relatively coarser in the scour process. The side-scan sonar image is used to verify the authenticity of scour pits identified from the swath sounder data.

3 Surveying Methods and Results

The pipeline was investigated using a dual-frequency side-scan sonar and a swath sounder system. The survey positioning was provided by an onboard DGPS system (TRIMBLE-212H, with an accuracy of 2.0 m).

3.1 The Side-Scan Sonar The dual-frequency side-scan sonar (KLEIN SYSTEM 2000) operates at both 100 kHz and 500 kHz with a resolution of 10 cm. Side-scan sonar depicts seafloor in grey levels in proportion to the amount of energy backscattered. The backscattering is affected by the intrinsic nature (composition, density, impedance, etc.) of the seabed.

Fig.3 Typical side-sonar image showing relatively high backscatter near the pipeline.

3.2 Swath Sounder The swath sounder system (GeoSwath Plus) operates at 250 kHz with across-track resolution being 1.5 cm and

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measurement accuracy being 0.1% of water depth (excluding errors caused by accessory equipments). The swath sounder data processing included manual editing of obvious artifacts, reduction of refraction errors, calibrations (including navigation and attitude latency, roll, pitch, yaw, tide and sound speed calibration, etc.), and gridding the bathy- metric data. The burial/span conditions of the pipeline (such as burial depth for partly buried pipeline, span length, etc.) can be measured directly from the digital bathymetric maps.

3.3 Surveying Results More than a hundred scour pits distributed randomly

along the pipeline were found during the cruise (Fig.4). The digital swath sounder data were used to measure the morphological characters (length, width and depth) of the scour pits, which were validated by examining sonar images. The scour length and width are defined as the extent of scour pits along and normal to the pipeline, respectively, and the span height is defined as the clearance between the bottom of the pipeline to the seabed. The surveying results show that, the lengths of the scour pits are mostly 1030 m, the maximum being 46 m (Fig.5); the widths are 820 m, the maximum being 27 m; the depths and span heights are 0.21.0 m and 00.75 m, respectively, the maxima being 1.3 m and 1.1 m, respectively.

Fig.4 Distribution of scour pits under the pipeline, together with the surface map of two scour pits, the location of the surface map being denoted by an arrow. The refracted sounders from the pipeline on top of the pits were filtered out, which caused the false phenomenon that the pipeline on top of the pits looks interrupted.

Fig.5 Distribution of the length L of the scour pits along the pipeline.

4 Calculation of the Maximum Allowable Free Span Length

Both the static and dynamic (vortex shedding) analysis methods were used to evaluate the MAFSL of the pipeline using the actual parameters and measured (or estimated) conditions of the pipeline according to the combined analysis method (CAM) proposed by MMS (1997).

where L is the length of free span; w is the submerged weight of the pipeline per meter, which can be expressed as
w = m g = 2 2 2 2 Do Do Di2 s + Dc c + Di2 f Dc w g , (2) 4

4.1 MAFSL Estimation Using the Static Analysis Method The static analysis method is used to calculate the MAFSL through the maximum bending moment MMAX , which can be described by the following equation (MMS, 1997; Shah et al., 1986):
wL2 wL2 wL2 , usually M MAX = being taken, (1) M MAX 12 8 10

where m is the mass of the pipeline per meter; Do, Di, and Dc are the outside, inside, and overall (including concrete weight coating) diameters, respectively; s, c, f, and w are the densities of steel, concrete weight coating, pipeline contents, and sea water, respectively; and g is the acceleration due to gravity. The maximum bending moment MMAX can also be expressed in terms of pipeline properties and allowable bending stress as follows (MMS, 1997):
M MAX = z b ,

(3)

where z is the pipeline section modulus, and b is the

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maximum allowable bending stress, both of which will be described later in this section. By substituting Eq.3 into Eq.1, the maximum allowable span length L can be determined by
L= 10 z b . w

The aforementioned pipeline section modulus z can be expressed as

z=
4 Di4 Do 32 Do

(5)

(4)

The maximum allowable stresses used for calculating b can be seen in Fig.6 and Table 2.

Fig.6 Sketch maps showing stresses on spanning pipelines. (a) Longitudinal stress; (b) Bending stress and Poissons effect; (c) Hoop stress; (d and e) Poissons effect. Table 2 Stresses on spanning pipelines
Stress Hoop stress h Sketch map(s) Fig.6c Maximum allowable stress(es)
PMAOP Do 2t L max = fl ( SMYS )

H =

Longitudinal stress l Poissons effect p Combined stress c Bending stress b

Fig.6a Figs.6b, d and e

1 L1, L 2 = H 2

2 2 C ( H )2 4 ( H max )

P = 0 H

C max = f combined ( SMYS )

b1 = min ( L max P , L max P
Fig.6b

b 2 = min ( L1 P , L 2 P
b = min ( b1 , b 2 )

The longitudinal stress limit Lmax is calculated as the longitudinal stress factor multiplied by the Specified Minimum Yield Strength (SMYS) of the free-span pipeline (ASME B31.8, 1995):

Poissons effect is determined based on the maximum hoop stress:

P = 0 H ,

(8)

L max = fl ( SMYS ) ,

(6)

where fl is the longitudinal stress factor. ASME B31.8 (1995) suggested fl=0.8. The maximum hoop stress is calculated based on the maximum allowable operating pressure PMAOP of the pipeline (MMS, 1997):

where 0=0.3 is the Poissons ratio. The maximum allowable bending stress based on the longitudinal stress limit is

b1 = min ( L max P , L max P ) .

(9)

H =

PMAOP Do , 2t

(7)

The maximum combined stress can be calculated based on the Specified Minimum Yield Strength (SMYS) of the free-span pipeline (ASME B31.8, 1995):

C max = f combined ( SMYS ) ,

(10)

where t is the wall thickness of the pipeline.

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where fcombined is the combined stress factor. ASME B31.8 (1995) suggested fcombined =0.9. The maximum combined stress can also be calculated based on the Von Mises Equation (MMS, 1997):
2 C max = h l h + l2 .

and the other represents the longitudinal stress in compression. The minimum of the absolute values of the roots determines the maximum allowable bending stress based on the combined stress limit:

(11)

b 2 = min ( L1 P , L 2 P ) .

(13)

Combining Eqs.10 and 11 yields

1 L1, L 2 = H 2
2 2 C ( H )2 4 ( H max ) .

(12)

Poissons effect is subtracted from both roots of L. One root of L represents the longitudinal stress in tension,
Parameter Do Dc t tc c s f w k E SMYS PMAOP e Value 22in=0.5588 m 0.70 m 15.9 mm 60 mm 3040 kg m-3 11391 kg m-3 32.381.6 kg m-3 (57 kg m-3 was used) 1020 kg m-3 1.0510-6 m2 s-1 2.071011 Pa 400 MPa 10 MPa 0.6 m

The maximum allowable bending stress b is taken as the smaller one based on the longitudinal stress limit b1 and combined stress limit b2. Based on the above theories, the calculated MAFSL of the DF1-1 submarine pipeline under static hydrodynamic conditions is 56 m. The parameters used for the calculation are listed in Table 3.

Table 3 Parameters used for calculating the allowable maximum span length
Explanation Pipe outside diameter Overall diameter including concrete coating Pipe wall thickness Concrete coating thickness Density of concrete coating Density of steel Density of pipeline content (gas) Density of seawater Kinematic viscosity of sea water Youngs Modulus Specified minimum yield strength of the pipe Maximum allowable operating pressure Gap between pipeline and seafloor

4.2 MAFSL Estimation by General VIV Analysis Vortex-induced vibrations occur as the result of periodic shedding of vortices from the pipeline. As the vortex shedding frequency approaches the pipe natural frequency, the free-span begins to resonate, which can result in rapid pipeline failure (MMS, 1997). The analysis is based on maintaining the reduced velocity around the pipeline at less than 3.05.0, which corresponds to the onset of VIV (Mork and Vitali, 1996). The reduced velocity is given by
VR = U , f n Dc

I=

4 Do Di4 . 64

(16)

The pipeline dynamic mass can be expressed as

2 2 2 2 M = Do Di2 s + Dc Do c + Di2 f + Dc w . (17) 4

The value of 3.0 for the reduced velocity in Eq.14 typically corresponds to the following relation (Mouselli, 1981): f s < 0.7 f n , (18) where fs is the vortex shedding frequency which can be calculated based on the Strouhal Number:
fs = St U , Dc

(14)

where VR is the reduced velocity of the flow around the pipeline; U is the current velocity at the pipeline span; fn is the pipeline natural frequency, which can be expressed as (Nielsen and Gravesen, 1985)
fn = k EI C = M L2 EI , M

(19)

2L

(15)

where C is the free span end fixity constant, which is generally taken as 1.54 for simply supported ends and 3.50 for fully fixed ends, but usually the free span ends will be partially fixed, so an average value of 2.52 is suggested for the calculation (Shah et al., 1986); E is the Youngs Modulus; M is the pipeline dynamic mass; I is the pipe moment of inertia which can be calculated as

where St has a linear relationship with the gap ratio as follows: e St = 0.27 0.03 (20) , Dc where e is the gap between pipeline and seafloor. The final solution for MAFSL can be obtained by substituting Eq.15 into Eq.18 as follows:
0.7C L< fs EI 2 . M
1

(21)

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flow induced VIV, which can be expressed as

4.3 MAFSL Estimation by Cross-Flow Induced VIV Analysis This method is based on partial safety factor design criteria (MMS, 1997). The limit state based on partial safety factor design is achieved by relating the pipeline natural frequency to the reduced velocity of the flow around the pipe at the onset of cross-flow VIV. Several partial safety factors are employed in order to ensure that crossflow VIV does not occur. The limit state equation that describes the onset of cross-flow VIV is (MMS, 1997)
fn U VR ,onset D

3 os + Cm w , VR ,onset = 2 3 os 2 1.5 + St + Cm 1.5k s w

(24)

where Cm is the added mass coefficient, which is normally set to 1.0 (DNV, 1991); os/w is the specific mass of the pipe and can be calculated by

T D R U .

(22)

os ws = , w ww

(25)

By combining Eqs.22 and 15, the MAFSL can be determined as follows:

L= CVR ,onset D EI , M

where ws and ww are the dry weight of the pipe with concrete coating and the weight of displaced water, respectively, which can be calculated as
2 2 2 Di2 s + Dc Do ws = Do c , 4 2 ww = Dc w ; 4

T D R U U

(23)

(26) (27)

where T is the safety class factor, whose values are designated to be 1.7, 2.0 and 2.3 for low, normal and high safety classes, respectively (Vitali et al., 1997). D is the period transformation factor, which is related to the time for the current-induced VIV to reach the full amplitude of vibration (Mathiesen et al., 1997). MMS (1997) recommended that the value of this partial safety factor be 1.0, while DNV (2002) suggested that the value should be 1.1. R is the natural frequency reduction factor. MMS (1997) proposed that the value for this factor be normally set to 1.0, while DNV (2002) recommended a value of 1.15 or 1.2. U is the extreme current variability factor. This factor is also normally set to 1.0. If a large current variability is expected in the area of the free span, this factor should be set to 1.1 (Mork et al., 1997). VR, onset is the limitation criterion for the onset of cross-

St is the Strouhal Number; ks is the the stability parameter, which is a function of the structural damping ratio, dynamic mass, and outside diameter of the pipeline (Vitali et al. , 1997):
ks = 2 os Cm , w

(28)

where is the structural damping ratio, and is a function of the logarithmic decrement coefficient (Rao, 1990):
+1 1
2

(29)

where is the logarithmic decrement coefficient that can be set to 0.05 (MMS,1997).

Fig.7 The calculated values of MAFSL of DF1-1 submarine pipeline as a function of current velocity, both the general VIV and cross-flow induced VIV analysis methods being used for the calculation. The first letters L, M and H in the brackets denote that the safety class factor T=1.7, 2.0 and 2.3, respectively for the cross-flow induced VIV analysis, while the second letters L and H in the brackets denote (D,R,U)=( 1, 1, 1) and (1.1, 1.2, 1.1), respectively.

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Based on the above two dynamic analysis methods, the calculated values of the MAFSL of the DF1-1 submarine pipeline as a function of current velocity are shown in Fig.7.

5 Discussion
The measured maximum near-bed velocity under ordinary weather conditions in the study area can reach 0.9 m s-1 (Table 1), and the MAFSL of the pipeline under this current velocity is 30 m when calculated by the cross-flow induced VIV analysis method using the highest safety factors (Fig.7); the pipeline investigation data showed that there were seven spans longer than 30 m (Figs.5 and 9). Those spans may threaten the safety of the pipeline severely, because cross-flow under ordinary weather conditions may induce VIV, which can lead to fatigue failure of the pipeline. The study area is often hit by hurricanes and storms. Qiao et al. (1997) proposed the wind speed, wind-generated wave height and wave period for return periods of 1, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50 and 100 years respectively. However, it is very difficult to obtain data on current speed during hurricanes, either because it is difficult to measure the currents during hurricanes, or because the hindcast methods for hurricane-induced currents are not well developed (MMS, 2006a). Using ADCPs (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler), MMS measured (and hindcasted using different

models) the surface current speed in the Gulf of Mexico during the hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ivan (MMS, 2006b; MMS, 2004b) (Table 4). MMS also provided design hurricane environmental criteria (including wind speed, significant wave height and surface current) for different return periods (MMS, 2004a; MMS, 2004b) (Table 5). The measured and hindcasted surface current speeds were found to have a good linear relationship with the corresponding wind speed (Fig.8). Based on this linear relationship, according to the wind speed for different return periods in the study area proposed by Qiao et al. (1997), the associated surface current speeds during hurricanes for different return periods were estimated (Table 6). MMS (2004a) studied the current profiles during hurricane Lili. The results showed that the current velocity dropped slightly in the upper mixed layer about 250 ft (76.2 m) below the surface. So it was assumed that the near-bed current velocities are close to the surface velocities during hurricanes in the study area and this would insure the security of the pipeline. According to the above theories and assumptions, the near-bed current velocity coupled with tidal currents for the return period of 100 years can reach 2.0 m s-1. And the calculated MAFSL of the pipeline is 20 m based on the cross-flow induced VIV analysis using the highest safety factors. Therefore, it is recommended that spanning pipelines longer than 20 m should be noticed and supported, the locations of which are displayed in Fig.9.

Table 4 Maximum wind speeds at 10m above sea level, significant wave heights and surface current velocities during hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ivan in the Gulf of Mexico
Literature MMS (2006b) Hurricane Katrina Rita Wind at 10 m above sea level (m s-1) 5560 4550 51.4 57.1 48.9 25.9 49.2 Significant wave height (m) 16 14 15.0 15.7 13.5 8.4 15.4 Associated surface current (m s-1) 2.3 2.2 2.0 2.1 1.9 1.0 2.8

MMS (2004b)

Ivan

Table 5 Design hurricane environmental criteria for different return periods in the Gulf of Mexico
Literature Return Period (year) 10 25 100 1000 10 25 50 100 Wind at 10 m (m s-1) 25.3 28.7 37.5 43.0 36.0 41.2 45.0 48.9 Significant wave height (m) 7.8 9.4 12.2 14.8 7.9 9.6 10.9 12.2 Associated surface current (m s-1) 0.6 1.3 1.7 2.1 0.7 1.8 2.0 2.3

MMS (2004a)

MMS (2004b)

Table 6 Estimated surface current velocities in the study area for different return periods
Return Period (year) 1 5 10 20 25 50 100 Wind at 10 m (m s-1) 26.8 32.6 35.6 37.9 38.5 40.2 44.0 Significant wave height (m) 5.4 7.2 8.5 9.7 10.0 10.8 11.9 Associated surface current (m s-1) 1.04 1.35 1.51 1.63 1.66 1.75 1.95

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Fig.8 Relationship between the maximum wind speed and the surface current velocity.

Fig.9 Scour pits threatening the safety of the pipeline, together with the surface map of some scour pits, whose locations are denoted by arrows. Solid circles denote successive spans; stars denote scour pits longer than 30 m, cross-flow under ordinary weather conditions being apt to induce VIV of the pipeline spanning on those pits; hollow circles denote scour pits with lengths between 20 m and 30 m, hurricanes likely inducing VIV of the pipeline spanning on those pits.

What is worse, some span shoulders between scour pits are very short (437 m) (successive spans). As the scour process continues, the pit will become larger at the expense of the span shoulder. Therefore, the weight of the pipeline will rest on the soil over a shortening length of the span shoulder. As a result, the soil of the span shoulder would fail when its bearing capacity is exceeded (Sumer et al., 2001), which would cause a larger span length. Eight such successive spans were found during the pipeline route cruise, the locations of which are illustrated in Fig.9. It can be seen from Fig.9 that the most hazardous scour pits are along the pipeline section from KP42 to KP51. It should be noted that, as it is difficult to measure the near-bed currents during hurricanes, the hurricane-induced currents were estimated based on the wind speed for different return periods in the study area as proposed by Qiao et al. (1997) and on the linear fitted relationship between wind speeds and associated surface current speeds with data provided by MMS (2004a, 2004b, 2006b), and that the highest safety factors were used when obtaining the MAFSL of 20 m using the cross-flow induced VIV analysis method, making a MAFSL of 20 m be conservative. The effects of waves under ordinary weather conditions were not considered in the calculation because of their slight influence on the seabed in the deep

water regime (regime III, CEPKP57.5); however, waves may have severe impacts on the seabed in the other two regimes mentioned in Section 2 (regimes I and II, KP57.5 Land). Moving sand waves may also have significant influence on the pipeline, so the calculated MAFSL of 20 m is not applicable to the pipeline in regimes I and II.

6 Conclusions
Both the static and dynamic analysis methods were used to study the maximum allowable free span length (MAFSL) in the deep water regime (regime III, CEPKP 57.5) of the pipeline off the west coast of Hainan Island. The main conclusions from this study are as follows: 1) The MAFSL under static conditions is 56m; longer spans may cause sags in the pipeline. 2) The calculated MAFSLs under ordinary weather conditions and hurricane-induced currents for the 100year return period are 30 m and 20 m, respectively. The aim is to avoid VIV by cross-flow induced VIV analysis using the highest safety factors. It is recommended that spanning pipelines longer than 20 m should be noticed and supported. 3) Eight successive spans were found in the study, which may also threaten the safety of the pipeline. The most hazardous spans are along the pipeline section from

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XU et al. / J. Ocean Univ. China (Oceanic and Coastal Sea Research) 2010 9: 1-10 MMS, 2004b. Post mortem failure assessment of MODUs during hurricane Ivan. Minerals Management Service, USA, 1-87. MMS, 2006a. Pipeline damage assessment from hurricane Ivan in Gulf of Mexico. Minerals Management Service, USA, 1-64. MMS, 2006b. Hindcast data on winds, waves and currents in northern Gulf of Mexico in hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Minerals Management Service, USA, 1-26. Mork, K. J., and Vitali, L., 1996. An approach to design against cross-flow VIV for submarine pipelines, dynamics of structures. Aalborg University, Denmark, 1-5. Mork, K. J., Vitali, L., and Verley, R., 1997. The MULTISPAN project: Design guideline for free spanning pipelines. Proc. 16th Int. Conf. Offshore Mech. Arctic Eng., ASME, Yokahama, Japan, 1-5. Mouselli, A. H., 1981. Offshore Pipeline Design, Analysis and Methods. PennWell Publishing Company, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, 50-64. Nielsen, R., and Gravesen, H., 1985. Advances in Offshore Oil and Gas Pipeline Technology. de la Mare R.F., ed., Gulf Publishing Company, Houston TX, USA, 326pp. Qiao, F. L., Yu, W. D., and Pan, Z. D., 1997. Study on the wind and wave extreme parameters of Tonkin Gulf in the South China Sea the Applications of LAGFD Numerical Models. J. Hydrodyn., 12 (1): 84-95 (in Chinese with English abstract). Rao, S. S., 1990. Mechanical Vibrations. 2nd edit. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, NJ, USA, 25-89. Shah, B. C., White, C. N., and Rippon, I. J., 1986. Design and operational considerations for unsupported offshore pipeline spans. Proc. 18th Annu. Offshore Technol. Conf., Houston, TX, USA, 5pp. Sumer, B. M., Truelsen, C., Sichmann, T., and Fredse, J., 2001. Onset of scour below pipelines and self-burial. Coast. Eng., 42 (4): 313-335. Vitali, L., Mork, K. J., Verley, R., and Malacari, L. E., 1997. The MULTISPAN project: response models for vortex induced vibration of submarine pipelines. Proc. 16th Int. Conf. Offshore Mech. Arctic Eng., ASME, Yokahama, Japan, 1-5. Wang, L., 2007. Research on the Hazards of Engineering Geology about the Route of Ledong 22-1/15-1 Proposed Pipeline. M.Sc. Thesis. Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China, 15pp (in Chinese with English abstract). Wang, W. W., Fan, F. X., Li, C. G., and Yan, J., 2007. Activity of submarine sand waves and seafloor erosion and deposition in the sea area to the southwest of Hainan Island. Mar. Geol. Quat. Geol., 27 (4): 23-28 (in Chinese with English abstract). Xia, D. X., Wu, S. Y., Liu, Z. X., Yin, P., Qi, F. Q., Ye, Y. C., et al., 2001. Research of the activity of submarine sand waves off Dongfang, Hainan Island. J. Oceanogr. Huanghai Bohai Seas, 19 (1): 1-8 (in Chinese with English abstract). Xu, J. S., Li, G. X., Dong, P., and Shi, J. H., 2009. Bedform evolution around a submarine pipeline and its effects on wave-induced forces under regular waves. Ocean Eng., DOI: 10. 1016/j.oceaneng.2009.10.002. Xu, T., Lauridsen, B., and Bai, Y., 1999. Wave-induced fatigue of multi-span pipelines. Mar. Struct., 12: 83-106. Yao, T., 2004. Determine the maximum allowable length and study the coupling of the inline-crossflow of pipeline. M.Sc. Thesis. Tianjin University, Tianjin, China, 14-27 (in Chinese with English abstract). (Edited by Xie Jun)

KP42 to KP51.

Acknowledgements
This study was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (Grant No. 2005CB422304) and the Ocean University of China Scientific Research Start-up Funds Project for Introduced Talents.

References
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