Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Introduce the geology and geotechnical properties of the seabed in renewable energy and hydrocarbon producing regions;
• Develop awareness of the geohazards prevalent in the offshore environment;
• Introduce offshore site investigation techniques and methods of sediment characterisa- tion;
• Introduce the design of geotechnical offshore infrastructure including pipelines, shallow foundations, piles and anchors, for both renewable energy and hydrocarbon producing facilities;
• Develop an awareness of the potential impact of scour on subsea infrastructure.

Content

The offshore environment (2 hours: sas229)

• A historical perspective on energy production in the oshore environment
• Continental drift and plate tectonics
• Extent and topography of the Continental margins
• Sediment characteristics, distribution and origins
• Offshore geohazards

Offshore site investigation (2 hours: sas229)

• Purpose and techniques
• Geophysical and geotechnical surveys
• In-situ tests: cone penetrometer, full-flow penetrometers and vane shear
• Sampling methods
• Simple shear testing: strain and pore pressure accumulation
• Model testing

Pipelines (2 hours: sas229)

• Pipeline systems and terminology
• Routing and hazard avoidance
• Pipeline installation
• Hydrodynamic stability and thermal expansion management
• On-bottom pipelines: embedment, axial and lateral resistance
• Buried pipelines: uplift resistance

Shallow foundations (2 hours: cna24)

• Types and applications
• Ultimate limit state: bearing capacity and failure envelope approaches
• Installation of embedded shallow foundations
• Serviceability limit state: immediate and consolidation settlements
• Removal of shallow foundations

Piles (2 hours: cna24)

• Types and applications
• North Sea examples: oshore renewables and hydrocarbon producing platforms
• Axial response:
  • Capacity and stiffness
  • Behaviour in clay / sand / rock
  • Linear elastic pile stiness solutions
  • Numerical analysis using the load transfer method
• Lateral response:
  • Limiting lateral resistance and design charts
  • Typical P-y curves
  • PISA
  • Design for cyclic loading

Anchors (2 hours: cna24)

• Type of buoyant facilities and mooring configurations
• Types of anchor:
  • Surface / gravity anchors
  • Embedded anchors: piles, caissons and drag anchors
• Design principles for:
  • Anchor chain response
  • Drag anchors
  • Suction caissons
• Next generation anchors

Scour (2 hours: dl359)

• Scour processes: sediment transport and scour hole development
• Scour hole measurement techniques
• Predicting scour around: pipelines and pile foundations
• Scour remediation techniques

This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:

Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.

 
Last modified: 13/09/2019 10:34