Abstract

Sub-sea structures form a critical part of the national infrastructure for energy extraction, transportation of fluids and for communications, amongst others. Examples of sub-sea structures are gas pipelines, cables for exporting electricity from offshore wind farms, submarine telecommunication lines, and risers for lifting oil and gas from sub-sea wells to surface platforms. These sub-sea structures must operate in the extreme conditions of the seas and oceans.

Analysis is a critical part of sub-sea engineering. Structural analysis in sub-sea engineering has to overcome the challenges of limitations on computing power, data uncertainty, and the behaviour of structures in the marine environment. The consequences of failure can be catastrophic in the case of oil and gas infrastructure.

Challenges for analysis include the geometric non-linear behaviour of flexible structures under dynamic loads, structure-seabed interaction, and calculating the hydrodynamic loading on structures. Increasing computing power and experience with existing structures is helping engineers to perform analysis that was unfeasible until recently. Improvements in analysis techniques are leading to increased optimisation and reduced risk in the design, construction and operation in sub-sea engineering.