Identification of hydrodynamic forces on a flexible pipe near plane boundary subjected to vortex-induced vibrations

Formally, use of system identification techniques to estimate the forces acting on the beam may give information on hydrodynamic forces due to vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs), but no results from such attempts for submarine pipeline spans have been reported. In this study, a pipe model with a mass ratio (mass/displaced mass) of 2.62 is tested in a current tank. The gap ratios (gap to pipe diameter ratio) at the pipe ends are 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0. The response of the model is measured using optical fiber strain gauges. A modal approach linked to a finite element method is used to estimate the hydrodynamic forces from measurement. The hydrodynamic force at the dominant response frequency is the major concern, and the lift force and added mass coefficients are calculated. Response calculations are performed using force coefficients from the inverse force analysis and the calculated results are in accordance with the experimental data.