Modelling of submarine slides in the geotechnical centrifuge

Boylan, N., Gaudin, C., White, D.J. and Randolph, M.F. (2010) Modelling of submarine slides in the geotechnical centrifuge. Springman, Sarah (ed.) In Research and Innovation Using Geotechnical Physical Modelling: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics 2010, ICPMG 2010. vol. 2, CRC Press. pp. 1095-1100 .

Abstract

The depletion of near shore hydrocarbon resources has led to a move to exploration and production in deep and ultra-deep waters. This shift into deeper waters requires increased reliance on sub-sea installations and pipelines that can extend to more than 500 km from shore, often across areas of changing seabed morphology and continental shelves. The viability of these developments is increasingly dependent on the security of the installations and tie-backs to shore, which are susceptible to geohazards such as submarine slides. The Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems (COFS) has initiated research to investigate the impact of submarine slides on offshore pipelines. As part of this project, a facility has been developed to model submarine slides in the geotechnical drum centrifuge at the University of Western Australia. This facility uses the long narrow channel of the drum centrifuge to model the run-out of submarine slides that are triggered from an intact block of clay, along a model seabed. This paper describes the development of the apparatus to trigger the slides in the drum centrifuge and presents some results from the first tests conducted in the facility.

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Contributors

Author: D.J. White

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