Author(s)

Breno Pinheiro Jacob and Nelson Francisco Favilla Ebecken

Abstract

— Lateral deflection operations consist in the deflection of a pipeline, resting on the seabed, until it is ready to be connected to a subsea oil production structure. This work presents the numerical methods and strategies employed in the development of a computational system for the simulation and analysis of such operations, involving severe geometric nonlinear effects due to large displacements. The following aspects are addressed: Representation of the pipeline; Anisotropic friction in the soil-pipeline interaction; Three- dimensional behaviour, and representation of the chain-buoy assembly in "off- bottom" operations; and the adequate representation of the pull-in cable. The study of the final connection to the subsea structure is also addressed. The q

Keywords