Steel Catenary Riser Response Identification Based on Field Measurements

The existing riser design and analysis methodologies rely on empirically derived parameters to conservatively represent the complex dynamic behavior. With exploration moving to deeper water and the increasing need of existing asset support, there is a strong need to evaluate and refine these methodologies. This is especially true for Steel Catenary Risers (SCR) as they are the most widely used riser type and due to their complex soil-pipe interaction at the touchdown point. Given the small amount of small scale experiments that have been performed in the past, there is a strong industry need for large scale field measurements. This paper presents valuable field data collected from a deepwater SCR under storm conditions. The presented data includes riser accelerations and strains compared against vessel motions. The measured SCR response is also analyzed and qualitatively compared against the current understanding of SCR response that constitutes the industry analysis methodologies.Copyright © 2011 by ASME