Pipeline Expansion/Lateral and Upheaval Buckling
Agenda
1. Pipeline Expansion
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling
3. Pipeline Upheaval Buckling
Pipeline Expansion/Lateral
Buckling/Walking Design 4. Pipeline Walking
5. Summary
1. Pipeline Expansion - Introduction
• What is pipeline expansion?
- Due to the operating temperature and operating pressure (normally higher than
installation temperature and installation pressure), the pipeline will expand at its two
ends.
1. Pipeline Expansion - Introduction
• Causes of Expansion
- The three main reasons contributing to the end force and expansion leading to the
lateral/upheaval buckling and walking are:
- Temperature
- Pressure
- Poisson contraction – associated with pressure effects
1. Pipeline Expansion - Introduction
Partially restrained area Partially restrained area
Hot end Cold end
f f
Vitual anchor at the
center (short pipeline)
Partially restrained area Partially restrained area
Hot end Cold end
f f
Fully restrained area
(long pipeline)
Vitual anchor point x
1. Pipeline Expansion – Analysis
Thermal Strain: Due to temperature difference between installation
and operation
Longitudinal Stress due to Temperature:
– Stress is developed when strain is prevented
– Stress dependent upon axial pipeline restraint
– When Unrestrained :
• no stress due to temperature
• εT = ΔT
– When restrained :
• no strain
• T = - E ΔT
1. Pipeline Expansion – Analysis
Longitudinal Stress due to Pressure
– Two pressure effects
• Poissons effect
• End cap
Poissons effect
– Circumferential expansion due to internal pressure gives axial
compression
– Poissons ratio = lateral strain/longitudinal strain = 0.3 for CS
– Stress is developed when strain is prevented
– Stress dependent upon axial pipeline restraint
1. Pipeline Expansion – Analysis
Poisson Effect of Pressure in Unrestrained Pipe
Pressure
ε
Induced Longitudinal
strain
1. Pipeline Expansion – Analysis
Longitudinal Stress due to Poissons Effect
– When Unrestrained
• No longitudinal stress
• εn = - n. hoop / E
– When restrained
• No strain, εv = 0
n = + n. hoop
1. Pipeline Expansion – Analysis
Longitudinal Stress - Endcap
Endcap effect
– pressure differential acting over internal cross-section area of pipe
end (hence “end cap”)
– Stress & strain due to end cap force
. (D i .Pi - D o .Po )
2 2
ec 4
AST
1. Pipeline Expansion – Analysis
Longitudinal Stress – Unrestrained
- εtemp & εn occur without stress when unrestained
ur E . (εnet - εtemp – εn )
ur E . (εec – εfriction)
But εfriction = 0 at free end
ur εec . E
. (Di .Pi - D o .Po )
2 2
ur 4
AST
Note:
εtotal = εec + εn + εtemp
εnet = εtotal – εfriction
1. Pipeline Expansion – Analysis
Longitudinal Stress – Restrained Pipeline
- Restrained
- As for unrestained, E . (εnet - εtemp – εn )
- εnet = 0
r E . (εtemp + εn )
- r = - E ΔT + n. hoop
- Partially Restrained
- As for unrestained, part E . (εec – εfriction)
part E .εec – m.Ws.L / Asteel
Partially restrained area Partially restrained area
Cold end
f f
Fully restrained area
(long pipeline)
Vitual anchor point x
1. Pipeline Expansion - Analysis
The End Expansion:
Lac
δ ε net dL
0
Where Lac is visual anchor length
Partially restrained area Partially restrained area
Hot end Cold end
f f
Fully restrained area
(long pipeline)
Vitual anchor point x
1. Pipeline Expansion - Analysis
At L = x
σL(Partially restrained) = σL(fully restrained)
Therefore, the only unknown x can be obtained. Then use equation (4) to
calculate the pipe end expanison.
Partially restrained area Partially restrained area
Hot end Cold end
f f
Fully restrained area
(long pipeline)
Vitual anchor point x
1. Pipeline Expansion – Effective Axial Force
• Effective Axial Force: A very very important concept in pipeline design
- The definition: Neff = Ntrue – piAi + peAe
- What is the effective axial force?
1. Pipeline Expansion – Effective Axial Force
- Figure of typical effective axial force for long pipeline
(operational temperature is not constant along the pipe)
Hot end Cold end
f f
Fully restrained area
(long pipeline)
0
Force (Ne)
Effective Axial
Maximum effective axial
force
Vitual anchor point
1. Pipeline Expansion – Effective Axial Force
- Figure of typical temperature distribution along the pipeline
Temperature
outlet
inlet
Installation Temperature
Force (Ne)
Effective Axial
1. Pipeline Expansion – Effective Axial Force
- Figure of typical effective axial force for short pipeline
Partially restrained area Partially restrained area
Hot end Cold end
f f
Anchor at the center
(short pipeline)
0
Force (Ne)
Effective Axial
Maximum effective axial
force
Vitual anchor point
1. Pipeline Expansion – Analysis Results
- End expansion displacment, as inputs for spool design analysis
- Effective Axial Force distribution, as inputs for free-span analysis, lateral buckling
analysis etc.
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Introduction
• What is pipeline lateral buckling?
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Analytical Solution
• Elastic buckling analytical theories developed for railways
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Analytical Solution
Pipeline lateral buckling is NOT a failure mode, but it may cause other failure
modes.
Local buckling
Fracture
Fatigue
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Analytical Solution
• Limitations of Hobb’s method
Hobb’s method is based on a few assumptions
Linear material property
Linear pipe-soil interaction
Flat seabed etc.
It provides a simple method to check the potential of pipeline bucking, but it
cannot correctly access the stress-strain (or bending moment-axial force) inside
the pipeline after pipeline buckling happens.
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Mitigating Measures (Controlled Buckling)
Sharing of expansion into adjacent buckles: This can be achieved by the
use of rock dumping at intermittent sections, with the aim to increase the
restraint to axial movement in order to reduce the feed-in into isolated buckles
that may be triggered by imperfection or trawl gear.
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Mitigating Measures (Controlled Buckling)
Mid-line Expansion spool: to absorb the pipe expansion under operational
temperature and pressure
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Mitigating Measures (Controlled Buckling)
Vertical Triggers/Sleepers: Pipe sleepers pre-laid across the seabed is used
to raise the pipeline off the seabed. This will create a vertical imperfection
(Out-of-straightness - OOS), which will initiate a buckle at this section.
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Mitigating Measures (Controlled Buckling)
Buckle Initiation using distributed Buoyancy: The distributed buoyancy is
added to reduce the weight at the intermittent sections. As the critical buckling
force is a function of pipeline weight, the added distributed buoyancy leads to
buckle initiations as the weight reduces.
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Mitigating Measures (Controlled Buckling)
Snake –Lay Configuration: The concept of snake lay is to deliberately install
horizontal lay imperfections to trigger a sufficient number of buckles at pre-
determined locations along the pipeline so that the thermal expansion is
distributed among a number of buckles rather than being concentrated at a
few buckle sites .
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Finite Element Solution
• General
Commercial finite element software (Abaqus\Ansys) are used to access the
pipeline lateral buckling
To appropriately model the real situation: temperature decay, non-linear material
property, non-linear pipe-soil interaction, residual laying tension, pipe supports, start-
up & shut down effects etc.
The bending moment, axial force, stress and strain are extracted from the FE
model for checking the local buckling, fracture and fatigue.
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Finite Element Solution
• Visual anchor spacing (VAS model): What is VAS model and why needs VAS model
VAS model is to study the lateral buckling for a short pipe segment (typically 2-6km)
Two necessary conditions to trigger the lateral buckling, force and imperfection.
However, it is not possible to get the pipeline lateral imperfection before installation.
This uncertainty must be studied.
Other uncertainties: pipe-soil interaction etc.
Model the entire line is time consuming
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Finite Element Solution
• The purpose of VAS model: to decide the spacing (typically 2-6km) to put lateral or
vertical trigger
Force (Ne)
Effective Axial
vitual anchor spacing
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Finite Element Solution
• Confirmatory global model is analysed with finite element models
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Finite Element Solution
• Design criteria for lateral buckling check
Local buckling check (displacement control criteria, DNV-OS-F101), the
main criteria to get the allowable virtual anchor spacing.
Fracture check (Engineering critical assessment, BS 7910)
Fatigue check (SAFEBUCK)
2. Pipeline Lateral Buckling- Finite Element Solution
• A full model analysis is performed to check again that all the criteria are
fulfilled.
3. Pipeline Upheaval Buckling- Introduction
• What is pipeline upheaval buckling?
3. Pipeline Upheaval Buckling- Introduction
-- Upheaval buckling is caused by the interaction between that longitudinal
compressive force and the local curvature of the pipeline axis
3. Pipeline Upheaval Buckling- Introduction
3. Pipeline Upheaval Buckling- Analytical Solutions
Analytical solutions (two references)
OTC 6335 Design of Submarine Pipelines Against Upheaval Buckling, by
Andrew C. Palmer and C.P. Ellinas, May 1990
Upheaval Buckling of Pipelines, Shell Design and Engineering Practice
(DEPs) 31.40.10.16-Gen. December 1998
3. Pipeline Upheaval Buckling- Analytical Solutions
3. Pipeline Upheaval Buckling- Analytical Solutions
