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2H Offshore has developed a new FEA modeling method that uses solid elements in Abaqus to simulate the global riser response, which will be presented at OTC on Monday, 5th May.

The research shows the behavior of the touch down zone of a 10-inch production SCR hung-off a semisubmersible in deepwater Gulf of Mexico. In this region, where severe hurricanes are a definite threat, there is a particular need for operators to understand SCR behavior under extreme loading and strain.

Under extreme environmental conditions, steel catenary risers (SCRs) are vulnerable to significant compression in the touch down zone, leading to over stress and plastic behavior. To ensure that SCRs will not fail under such conditions, an assessment of riser response under compressive loading is critical.

The latest industry design codes and practices do not provide a clear guidance on addressing compression, over stress and the resulting plastic strains, and the commonly used analysis method cannot accurately capture the local behavior of the riser pipe under such extreme global response due to the limitations of traditional riser modeling methods.