Whole-life design applied to pipeline bundle towhead foundation system

Panayides, S., Powell, T.A., White, D.J. and Gourvenec, S.M. (2023) Whole-life design applied to pipeline bundle towhead foundation system. In Offshore Site Investigation Geotechnics 9th International Conference Proceeding. Society for Underwater Technology. pp. 1940-1947 . (doi:10.3723/NHBW8823).

Abstract

Geotechnical design aspects of tolerably mobile mudmat foundations for offshore structures have been investigated and published in recent years. Most of the work to date has focussed on application to pipeline end termination or in line structures for deep-water applications. This paper demonstrates the applicability of a published analytical framework for tolerably mobile mudmat foundations, validated for PLET and ILS geometry and loading conditions, to predict the foundation response of a bundle towhead. The purpose is to quantify the field-life performance of bundle towhead structures. Bundles combine all flowlines and controls within a single carrier pipe and bundle towhead structures house the valve and control assemblies. Towheads are typically designed as gravity-based structures to statically resist in-place loads, whilst being engineered to displace longitudinally across the seabed due to thermal expansion and contraction cycles of the bundle system. Results from three-dimensional finite element analyses of bundle towhead structures designed for a typical North Sea field comprising soft clay are presented and compared with predictions from the analytical framework. The paper also discusses areas of potential further investigation to improve the understanding of tolerably mobile foundations behaviour over their field life.

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Contributors

Author: D.J. White

Author: S.M. Gourvenec

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