Mr Santaram Chatterjee

Supervisors

  • Professor Mark Randolph
  • Professor David White

Research Interests

  • Numerical modelling
  • Large deformation finite element analysis
  • Sub-sea pipeline geotechnics
  • Offshore shallow foundations

Research Topic

Numerical Modelling of Pipeline Seabed Interactions

Research Abstract

My PhD is concerned with the interaction of pipelines with the seabed, to develop analysis techniques to predict the forces mobilised as hot pressurised pipelines sweep across the seabed. This research is highly topical – controlled lateral buckling is a radical but increasingly popular design solution. A new software has been written which interfaces with the ABAQUS finite element engine allowing large deformation effects, including heavy remoulding, to be captured. This software has been used to explore the soil resistance during gross pipeline movements, identifying the limiting combinations of load that will cause failure. This analysis approach incorporates changes in seabed geometry, the ‘history’ effect of remoulding and the strain rate-enhancement of shear strength. Coupled consolidation analyses using sophisticated soil constitutive model (modified Cam Clay) has also been performed.

Why my research is important

Majority of Australia’s remote sub-sea oil and gas resources remain unexplored and unused. Over the last two decades, offshore oil and gas developments has gradually been extended to deeper water further from onshore. This has led to shifting of focus from fixed platforms to floating production systems, which in turn has resulted in increasing importance on pipelines and risers. Design values of pipe-soil interaction forces are a key input in determining the practicability of a design solution. A considerable amount of money can be saved by the slight fine-tuning of these values.

Experimental studies have been performed in the industry to study large amplitude movements of pipelines, but these are mostly case specific, and the results have rarely been generalised other than using empirical expressions without theoretical basis. A significant quantity of experimental data related to the topic is becoming available through industry studies and also from recent academic research. The goal of my research has been to provide a theoretical basis in which these experimental results can be framed and also to help to predict results for the cases where experimental results are not available or experiments are difficult to conduct.

Funding

  • IPRS
  • UPAIS
  • COFS ad hoc scholarship