AN INVESTIGATION ON THE

EFFECT OF CURRENT
DIRECTIONALITY ON RISER
VORTEX-INDUCED
VIBRATION
1st International Conference on Floating Structures
for Deepwater Operations

Satheesh Manayankath, Lloyds Register

Shan Huang, University of Strathclyde

FloatTech, Glasgow
2009

Introduction

Fatigue damage due to VIV

VIV prediction
Shear7 from MIT
Other models include wake oscillators and vortex tracking methods
Efforts are ongoing to calibrate these models against measured field data

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Background

Shear7 is based on empirical data from model tests at low Re

Shear7 assumes that the current profile is unidirectional
For angular flows the component velocity is used
In the ocean environment the riser will be subjected to multidirectional currents
The effect of this assumption is yet to be addressed and quantified
Most of the model tests are with rigid/flexible cylinders in unidirectional current
Limited data on the influence of current directionality on riser VIV
Intuitively the approach is conservative
How conservative ?
This study was undertaken at the University of Strathclyde as a preliminary step in
that direction

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Theoretical Investigation

The investigation used available theoretical models

The aim was to get an insight however limited and to encourage further R & D
A realistic top tensioned riser model was used in the study
Theoretical models used were Shear7 and VIV models in Orcaflex
Inflow Conditions:
Uniform flow over the full length
Flow direction in the riser lower half at different angles of attack with respect to
the uniform flow on the upper half

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

VIV Models

Shear7
Uses a modal analysis technique
Iteratively calculates the lift and damping coefficients to attain a balance of
power input from lift force and power output through damping
Orcaflex VIV Toolbox : Wake oscillator models, Milan and Iwan & Blevins
Milan wake oscillator model
Effects of VIV are simulated using a series of equivalent oscillators that are
connected to the structural model nodes.
The equivalent oscillator is a non-linear one degree of freedom system which
transmits to the structure forces equivalent to vortex shedding mechanisms

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

VIV Models

Iwan & Blevins wake oscillator model

Uses a Van der Pol type equation
Model parameters are determined by curve-fitting experimental results for
stationary and forced cylinders in the Reynolds number range between 103 and
105

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Analysis Cases

Top Tensioned Riser

Base Case:
1.0 m/s current over full length
Analysed using both Shear7 and Orcaflex wake oscillator models
Shear7 results considered as the reference case
Multidirectional current
Only wake oscillator models used
Uniform flow over upper half
The angle of attack in the lower half varied as 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 deg

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Riser Details

ID
[m]

Subme
rged
wt/m
[kN/m]

Ca

CD

Name

Height
[m]

Mass/
m
[kg/m]

Pup in air

19.00

769.4

0.603

0.529

-7.467

1.596

1.516

Pup in
water

4.33

769.4

0.603

0.529

-4.732

1.596

1.516

Slick

18.29

769.4

0.603

0.529

-4.605

1.596

1.516

Riser
(Buoyant)

310.99

1042.8

1.107

0.529

-0.561

1.176

1.301

Pup

7.92

769.4

0.603

0.529

-4.532

1.596

1.516

1st International Conference on

OD
[m]

Density of sea water

1.025 tons/m3

Density of contents

1.138 tons/m3

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Analysis Procedure

Only cross flow displacements and

accelerations (std)
A highly simplified procedure used to calculate
fatigue damage

MEr
T

Bending stress s

s = &y&

Stress range S

S = 2 2 &y&std

No. of cycles to failure N

N=

MEr
T

A
Sm

A = 1.04x1012 and m=3

No of stress cycles = n
Damage = n/N [1/year]

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Uniform Current Results

S h e a r 7 - Y - d is p - 0 d e g
M ila n - Y - d is p - 0 d e g
B le v in s - Y - d is p - 0 d e g
1 .2 0
1 .0 0

Y [m]

0 .8 0
0 .6 0
0 .4 0
0 .2 0
0 .0 0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

R is e r le n g th [m ]

Transverse displacements in uniform current

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

350

Uniform Current Results

S h e a r7 -Y -a c c -0 d e g
M ila n - Y - a c c - 0 d e g
B le v in s - Y - A c c - 0 d e g
2 .0
1 .8
1 .6
Y-Acc [m/sq.s]

1 .4
1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

R is e r le n g th [m ]

Transverse accelerations in uniform current

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

350

Uniform Current Results

Max Fatigue Damage (Uniform Current)

Milan

Blevins

Shear7

50

100

150

200

Damage [1/year]

Maximum fatigue damage in uniform current

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

250

Multidirectional Current Results: Milan model

1.2
1

Y-disp-0deg
Y-disp-30deg

Y [m]

0.8

Y-disp-45deg

0.6

Y-disp-60deg

0.4

Y-disp-75deg

0.2

Y-disp-90deg

0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Riser length [m]

Transverse displacements at different angles of attack

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Multidirectional Current Results : Milan Model

1
Y-acc-0deg

Y-Acc [m/sq.s]

0.8

Y-acc-30deg
0.6

Y-acc-45deg

0.4

Y-acc-60deg
Y-acc-75deg

0.2

Y-acc-90deg

0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Riser length [m]

Transverse accelerations at different angles of attack

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Multidirectional Current Results: I & B Model

1.2

Y-Acc [m/sq.s]

1
Y-acc-0deg
0.8

Y-acc-45deg

0.6

Y-acc-60deg

0.4

Y-acc-75deg
Y-acc-90deg

0.2
0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Riser length [m]

Transverse accelerations at different angle of attack (I & B Model)

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Y-Acc [m/sq.s]

Multidirectional Current Results: Milan vs. I&B

Milan-Y-acc-45deg
Milan-Y-acc-90deg
Blevins-Y-acc-45deg
Blevins-Y-acc-90deg

0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Riser length [m]

Transverse accelerations (Milan vs. I&B)

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

350

Multidirectional Current Results

Max Fatigue Damage( Diff angles of attack on riser lower
half)
90 deg
75 deg
60 deg

Blevins
Milan

45 deg
30 deg
0 deg
0

20

40

60

80

100

Dam age [1/year]

Maximum fatigue damage at different angles of attack

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Conclusions

Uniform flow: Shear 7 predicted fatigue damage 4 to 8 times larger compared to

wake oscillator models
Compared to the case of unidirectional inflow, in multidirectional inflow the fatigue
damage reduced significantly
Current direction of 45 degrees in the lower half reduced the annual fatigue damage
by a factor of two to five relative to the fully unidirectional inflow case
The study appears to indicate that using a unidirectional current in VIV analysis
would lead to results which are likely to be highly conservative.
Future VIV model developments need to consider this issue

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Thank You

1st International Conference on

Floating Structures for Deepwater Operations

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow