SEMINAR: Geotechnical modelling of seabed pipelines and foundation piles for offshore developments

This presentation will summarise recent research into the behaviour of pipelines and piles resting on the soft seabeds found offshore Australia. Many offshore oil and gas developments involve long pipelines that extend into deep water, hundred of kilometres offshore. These pipelines expand and contract, sweeping laterally and axially across the seabed during operation, and they are also cross steep slopes and are susceptible to hydrodynamic loading from cyclones. Also, as water depths increase, platforms that rest of the seabed are less feasible than floating structures, which are tethered, often by anchor piles. These anchor piles are subjected to episodes of intense cyclic loading, stirring up the seabed during each cyclone. The development of new design methods to assess the interaction forces between pipelines and piles is important to the safe and efficient design of these structures. The presentation will describe experimental and numerical studies conducted at COFS, with an emphasis on the mechanisms revealed by physical model tests performed in the geotechnical centrifuge.