On the detailed FEA of flexible risers for multi-scale problems

Rahmati, Mohammad, Alfano, Giulio and Bahai, Hamid (2016) On the detailed FEA of flexible risers for multi-scale problems. In: FIV 2016: Proceeding of the 11th International Conference on Flow Induced Vibration. UNSPECIFIED, pp. 1-6.

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Abstract

This paper presents an efficient detailed finite-element modelling method for the structural analysis of flexible risers, which can be effectively implemented in a multiscale analysis based on computational homogenization. For fluid structure interaction analysis of flexible risers, sufficient accuracy can only be obtained by the use of structural models that properly take into account contact and friction between layers and how these are related to internal and external pressure and bending of individual tendons. With this method, by exploiting cyclic symmetry and applying periodic boundary conditions, only a small fraction of a flexible pipe is used for a detailed nonlinear finite-element analysis at the small scale. In this model, using three-dimensional elements, all layer components are individually modelled and surface-to surface frictional contact is used to simulate their interaction. The approach is applied on a 5-layered pipe made of inner, outer and intermediate polymer layers and two intermediate armour layers, each made of 40 steel tendons. The capability of the method in capturing the detailed nonlinear effects and the great advantage in terms of significant CPU time saving are demonstrated.

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