GLOBAL RISER ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY

Wave scatter diagram analysis

The global riser analysis (from a fatigue assessment standpoint) comprise of the following
activities
Collation of environment (global) data for the location
Analysis of these environmental load the method of analysis will depend on the level of
detail and conservatism desired
Estimation of the deformation in the flexible pipe due to these environmental loads.
The first two steps above are mostly statistical. Fig.1 below shows a typical time trace of the
water surface elevation of a particular location (of interest), from this time trace the parameters
needed to characterize the wave are extracted using time domain e.g. significant wave height
(one-third of the highest peaks), mean zero up-crossing period (average of the positive upcrossings) and root mean square period etc. Also, frequency domain (spectral) analysis could be
used to obtain parameters which are related to the statistical parameters of a wave e.g. the mean
spectra moment and the significant wave height are related as ***WD1
H s 4 mo

3-1
while the peak period is given as
Tm

mo 2
mo1

**

3-2

mo
= is the mean spectral moment

mo1 & mo 2
are the first and second spectral moment gotten from spectral analysis.

Armed with this information, it is possible to generate a wave scatter diagram of individual wave
height and period using a probability distribution (e.g. Longuet-Higgins distribution) for a
reference period of say one year.
In deterministic fatigue assessment, it is often convenient to split the generated scatter diagram
of individual wave height and period into manageable bins (blocks) which is also associated with
representative individual height and period. There are various different ways of achieving this

The representative wave height is calculated from the average of the wave height of all bins
making up the new bin e.g. assuming the scatter diagram of fig.2-4 above is to be blocked into
five blocks, the first sea state will have a height
H1,low H1,high H 2,low H 2,high
H
H n ,high

... n ,low
2
2
2
H1
n

3-3

where n is the number of sea state blocked into one regular wave i.e.
H1

0.5 1.5
1m
2

The representative period (a.k.a most probable period) is given as [Y. Bai].

T1 0.7 H10.4
3-4
This is often used when the wave classes are high in number. Another way suggested by
[Sheehan] was to choose the representative height as the highest within the classes and the
representative period as the weighted mean period of all classes. In this method, the number of
wave classes that are blocked into one bin is chosen such that no single (new) bin has wave
cycles greater the twice the number of cycles per block (bin) i.e.
n single block

2 n i
number of new block

3-5

where possible. In this way blocks with higher wave cycles are smaller than those with less
number of cycles.
To calculate the number of wave cycle within the new bin (block), the number of individual
wave cycles calculated with Longuet-Higgins method is not used rather the stress range
probability distribution is used to calculate the probability of the wave stresses being within that
stress range. The stress range (encounter) probability is often assumed to be Weibull distributed
[Sintef & ship design]. The Weibull two parameter stress range distribution is given as

lower , i

P lower ,i exp
o

i
[n no ]h
3-6

no 1 4
10
and
i=stress range due seastate i,

o
=reference stress range **(look at again)

P lower ,i
= is the probability of exceeding the lower stress in the range

lower, i

i th
= lower stress value in the stress range due to the

sea state

= the Wiebull shape parameter with values ranging *** (find the range)

no
is the inverse of the reference probability level (taken as 104)
the probability of any stress range (cycle) is given by
Pi P( lower ,i ) P ( upper,i )
3-7
this is a measure of the probability of the stress being within the lower and upper bound of the
stress range [fatigue guide]. The number of stress cycles is simply
ni P i *108
assuming a twenty years
(

20 * 365 * 24 * 3600 6.3 108 sec onds

3-8
)

design life (often taken as a standard). The stress range is calculated from normal riser analysis
(global and local) for each wave condition in new blocks.
Global deformation due to environmental loads
Now that the wave environment has been blocked into representative wave height and period, the
next step is to calculate the pipes deformation due to this wave heights and periods. For design
purposes, static analysis will be used to determine the configuration of the flexible pipe (riser)
hence static analysis not will be necessary in fatigue assessment. But for the records, static

analysis entails the solution of this differential equilibrium equation which results from fig.3-4
below.
EI

d 4 y d dy
T f x 0
dx 4 dx dx

3-9a

for equilibrium in the x-direction

dT
w
dx

3-9b

for equilibrium in the y-direction

The solution to these equations subject to the boundary conditions

x 0, y 0 T T0
will give the famous catenary cable equation
Y

T0
cosh wX 1
T

w
0

3-9c

This equation describes the catenary curve, hence the coordinates of the curve at any water depth
(X, Y) are known from here. Also, this static analysis gives the tension at any location along the
riser and the distance along the catenary curve once the water depth or the horizontal distance
between the touchdown point and the vessel is known.

Tk T0 wYk
3-9d
EI

is the bending stiffness of the riser

w
is the riser submerged weight

Tk
tension in each element

SK

wxK
T0

sinh
w
T0

3-9e

From the above equations, if the water depth, riser length, submerged weight are known, the

T0
touch down tension

can be calculated iteratively.

The angular inclination of any element to the global axis (X, Y) is very vital to the estimation of
the nodal parameters relative the global axis.

T0

T
k

K cos 1

or

3-10a

X k X k1 X k 2 , Yk Yk 1 Yk 2

l k X k2 Yk2 , cos k

Yk
X k
, sin k
lk
lk

3-10b

The angle are used to compute the transformation matrix between the fixed seabed and each
element, the essence being to convert every force from the local coordinate system (x, y) to the
global system of coordinate (X, Y). The transformation matrix for each node therefore will be
(show the beam element)
sin k
T x, y X , Y
cos k

cos k

sin k

3-11a

and for the entire element we have

T x, y X , Y

1, 2
k

T x, y X , Y 1

0 22

0 22

2
T x, y X , Y

3-12b

Note that the transformation matrix is same for both nodes as the angle does not vary within the
element and the zeros here represent 2X2 null matrices.
The Mass Matrices
As noted above, the finite beam element could have its mass lumped at the nodes or evenly
distributed using an interpolation polynomial.
Using the interpolation polynomial for a two dimensional system given in [A.M Roustad]

N 1 ,
l

x
l

3-13

the mass of each element is

l

m element N N dV A N T N dx
T

3-14a

m element

x
1 l
x
A
1 ,

x
l
0

l
l

x
Al 2 1
dx

l
6 1 2

3-14b

The structural mass of each element is computer by expanding the above taking into
consideration the fact that the mass will always be unidirectional at each node,
2

s Al 0
msk
6 1

15a

0
2
0
1

1
0
2
0

1
0

3-

A & Aint
= cross-sectional and internal area of the riser respectively
msk & mint, fluid
=structural mass of the riser and mass of internal fluid respectively

s & fluid
= density of steel and internal fluid respectively

l
= length of each element

The internal fluid mass matrix will be similar with the structural mass matrix; the only difference
will be in the cross-sectional area and density

fluid Aintlk 0
mint, fluidk
1
6

0
2
0
1

1
0

1
0
2
0

3-15b

The matrix for the added mass is related to the external fluid and external area since the added
mass effect is due to the interaction between the riser and the external fluid giving the riser
additional mass, the added mass matrix is given as
2

ext , fluid Aext l k 0

mak
1
6

0
0
0
0

1
0
2
0

0
0

3-15c

k msk mint, fluidk mak

3-15d

mak , k
=added mass and total mass matrix for each element

ext , fluid
= density of external fluid

Aext
= external area
superscript

= is the matrix transpose

V
= volume of the element

This individual element mass matrix will first be transformed into the global reference frame and
then assembled using matrix concatenation method thus [A.M. Roustad]

kXY x, y X ,Y 1,2 k x, y X ,Y T
11

12
k
k
21
22
k k

k
XY

3-15e

Hence the global mass matrix on concatenation will be

11
12
1
1
21
22

11
12
1
2
2
1
21
22

2
2 11
12
3
3

21
22

11

3
3
4

15f

Stiffness matrix

11
22
12
n 1 n
n
21
22
n
n

3-

The stiffness matrices are derived by noting that the variation of the total potential energy at a
boundary is equal to the work of external force on the virtual displacement. Mathematically we
have

u dV du dS U

3-16a

u dV

= total body force in each element

du dS
S

= total external force acting on the boundary of the element

= the change in the potential energy (virtual work) of the system

U E V
V

For a linear system

u dV du dS E V
V

****

3-16b

This equation can be expressed in the form [Pavs lecture]

f K a
3-16c
Where

f & a

force and displacement vectors and

= the global stiffness matrix. In this form

K B T D B dV
V

and **

 f N T dV N T dS
V

= First derivative of the shape function of each element

= matrix of the modulus of elasticity

= external load on the riser

= the body force per unit volume

E , u &
i.e. by substituting for

in the above equation**** and noting that

d
u
dx

u N a
D D L u D L N a

B L N
dV Adx
Using the same interpolation function as in the mass matrix above we have
B

d
N d 1 x
dx
dx
l

x 1 1

l l l

Substituting into ** above, we get

K

EA 1 1
l 1 1

To reflect the number of degree of freedom of each element, the elastic stiffness matrix is written
as

K EK

0 0

EAk 0 1

lk 0 0

0 1

0 0
0 1
0 0

0 1

3-17a

Also, the geometric stiffness matrix which relates deformation in the lateral direction is given as

K GK

T 0
k
lk 1

0 1
0 0
0 1
0 0

0
0
0

3-17b

K K E K K GK

0 0

EAk 0 1

lk 0 0

0 1

0 0
1

0 1 Tk 0

1 0 lk 1

0 1
0

0 1
0 0
0 1
0 0

0
0
0

3-

17c
This is the stiffness matrix of each element in the local frame; it must be
transformed to the global reference frame before it can be concatenated to the
global stiffness matrix. The procedure is same as that for the mass matrix; the
difference is that the stiffness matrix above is used instead of the mass matrix.

DAMPING MATRIX

The structural acceleration and velocity of the riser pipe as a result of wave and current forces
are continually attenuated (damped) as the motion progresses. Effectively, damping has to do
with the dissipation of the energy of a vibrating system giving rise to decay in the amplitude of
the vibration circle. The effect of damping is factored into the dynamic analysis of a system
using (damping) ratios which are measure of the energy lost per cycle to the total energy of the
un-damped system. In general, modelling the phenomenon of damping is quite involved but the
current practice follows the Raleigh method which assumes that damping is proportional to the
mass and stiffness of the entire system. Mathematically, the damping matrix is expressed as

 C 1 K 2 M
3-18

1 & 2
The damping coefficients
are often expressed in terms of the damping ratio and the first
and second mode natural frequency (from eigenvalue analysis) [Patel and Sarohia] .

2 1 n 2 2 n1
n 2 n1

n1 n 2

3-19a

2 1 n 2 2 n1
n 2 n1

n1 n 2

3-19b

The damping ratio

is often taken as 5% for the first two modes in analysis.

1 & 2
= damping ratios

n1 & n 2
= first and second mode natural frequencies

WAVE AND CURRENT (GLOBAL) LOADS ON RISER PIPE

At the moment, wave and current forces can only be quantified using the famous Morrisons
equation. The use of this equation means that the transformation matrix must be used to relate
conditions at the node (local condition) to the global axis system since the current and wave
kinematic properties are defined with respect to the global (fixed) coordinate system. Also,
Morisons equation has a projected area which implies that all wave and current loads act on the
projected area normal to the direction of the fluid motion.
The Morisons force is expressed as the vector sum of the drag and inertia forces at each node
F M k FkD FkI
3-20
F Mk

= total hydrodynamic loads calculated using Morisons equation

FkI & FkD

= inertial and drag forces in each element respectively

Inertia forces at each node

FkI

C m wD 2 l k
v k qk
4

3-21

Cm
=inertia coefficient

w
= density of water

=external diameter of riser

Lw

kw = wave number

Lw
=wavelength

dn
= depth of each node from the mean water level

Y
= total water depth (negative downwards)

= wave frequency

H
= wave height

qk
=structural acceleration of the riser

gk w tanh kY

D
= wave dispersion parameter

v k
Note, it is not possible to evaluate

v k v kX , v kY

v kX

unless it is transformed as shown below.

, Wave acceleration in the global frame

2 H cosh k Y d n
sin kx D t
2
sinh kY
3-22a

v kY

2 H sinh k Y d n
cos kx D t
2
sinh kY
3-22b

x, y

These accelerations are then transformed to the local frame

water particles acceleration vector by the transformation matrix thus

by multiplying the global

v kx1
y
v kx
v kX
0

v k1 T x, y X , Y 1
y T x, y X , Y 1, 2 Y x

0
T x, y X , Y 2
v k 2

v k
v k
y
v k 2

v kX1
Y
v k1
v kX2
Y
v k 2

3-22c

Hence we substitute each of the acceleration component in ^^ into the inertial force formula
stated above, to calculate the inertia force at each node in all degrees of freedom.
FkIx1

Iy
Fk1
FkIx2
Iy
Fk 2

v kx1


C m wD 2 l k v ky1

x
4
v k 2
v y
k2

qkx1

qky1

qkx2

qky2

3-22d

Drag force at each node

FD

1
wC D Dv kr vkr
2
3-23a

CD
= drag coefficient

q kx1
= structural velocity of the riser

vkr vkr
= product of relative velocity

vkr v w,k vc ,k q k

- Superposition of the current, wave and structural velocities.

Wave velocity

v w,k vwX,k , v wY ,k

v wx ,k

y
w, k

vv

T x, y X , Y 1, 2

X
w,k
Y
w,k

v wx ,k 1
y
v w ,k 1

T x, y X , Y 1
0

x
vw,k 2
y
vw,k 2

v kX1

0
v kY1

T x, y X , Y 2 v kX2
Y
v k 2
3-

23b

H cosh k Y d n
sin kx D t
2
sinh kY

v wX,k

3-23c

H sinh k Y d n
cos kx D t
2
sinh kY

v wY ,k

3-23d
Current velocity

vc ,k vcX,k

vcY,k

 vcx,k

vcx,k 1
y
vc ,k 1

x T x, y X , Y 1, 2
vc , k 2
y
vc ,k 2

y
vc ,k

vcX,k 1
Y
vc ,k 1

X
c ,k 2
Y
c ,k 2

T x, y X , Y 1, 2

vcX,k 1

vcX,k 2

3-24

Current velocity is zero in the vertical direction.

Y

dn
= the water depth and

is the nodal depth**** other variable should be defined.

vcX,k 1

vc , k
Note

is gotten from environmental data measurement and depends on depth hence

is the

q k & qk
current velocity measured at the depth of the node under consideration. While
are
calculated from numerical integration, the method of calculating them will be shown in the
subsequent section. Also, the wave and current are assumed to be in phase to enable addition. A

kx D t

good approximation of the wave phase angle

can be evaluated by assuming
different positions of the water surface elevation within the wave cycle i.e. zero crossing, crest,
and trough. As an example

H
cos kx D t
2

w 0 0.5
, at the zero crossing

The relative velocity for each element can then be represented in the matrix form as
v rx,k1
y
v r ,k1
v rx,k 2
y
v r ,k 2

v wx ,k1

v wy ,k1

v wx ,k 2

v wy ,k 2

vcx,k 1

vcy,k 1

v cx,k 2

v cy,k 2

q kx1

q ky1
q kx2

q ky2

3-25

Using this relative velocity vector, the drag force is calculated at each node of an element using
eqn. ** above. The drag and inertial forces are summed vectorially (i.e. taking the phase into
account) at each node.

 vrx,k 1

vrx,k1
y
1
vr ,k1

C
D
w
D
vrx,k 2
FkDx
2
2
y
Dy
Fk 2
vr ,k 2
FkDx

1
Dy
Fk1

vry,k 1

vrx,k 2

vry,k 2

3-26

Fkx1 FkIx1 FkDx

1
y Iy Dy
Fk 1 Fk1 Fk1
Fkx2 FkIx2 FkDx

2
y Iy Dy
Fk 2 Fk 2 Fk 2
3-27

This total force is in the local reference frame and depends on the angular orientation of the
element, in order to calculate the total force at the nodes; these forces will have to be transformed
back to the global reference frame where all forces at each node will have the same sense. Again,
using the local to global transformation matrix stated above, the nodal forces relative to the
global frame is

FkX1

Fk1 T x, y X , Y
1, 2
FkX2

Fk 2

Fkx1

Fky1
Fkx2

Fky2

3-28

In this form, the forces at each node of the entire element can now be summed provided they are
in same direction i.e. each node will have contributions from two elements and the resultant
force will be given by
FxkX FxX,ki FxX,k i 1 i 1,2,3...n

3-29a
FykY FyY,ki FyY,k i 1

3-29b
Here we are considering decoupled situation and the load term due to vessel motion is ignored, if
it were to be the other way round then the load component due to vessel motion will be added
accordingly.

RISER DEFORMATION
The essence of the above mathematical developments is to get a way of calculating the
deformations due to wave and current forces using a finite element method. Knowledge of the
deformation will give information on the stress-strain condition of that location in the riser pipe.
The deformation is gotten from the solution of the dynamic equation

[ M ] q + [ C ] q + [ K ] q=F ( t )

Where

M , C , K

q, q , q

are the mass, damping and stiffness matrices and

displacement, velocity and acceleration respectively. While

the global force vector.
F11X

q11x
y
q11
q12x
y
q12

Y
F11
F12X
X
F12
.

q 11x
y
q 11
q 12x
y
q 12

.
.

FnY1
X
Fn 2
FnX2

.
.

qny1
x
qn 2
qny2

is the Morisons force above i.e.

q11x

y
q11
q12x
y
q12
.

Ft

are the structural

.
.

q ny1
x
q n 2
q ny2

.
.

qny1
x
qn 2
qny2

3-30

The solution to this set of equation (in time domain) is an iterative process solved using
numerical integration method e.g. fourth order Runge Kutta method, Wilson-theta algorithm,
Newmark Beta method etc to get the structural acceleration, velocity and displacement.
Observe that the left hand side of this equation is wholly dependent on the wave and current
condition and will not change during the iteration process. However for each time step, the right
hand side will continually be compared with the left hand side to see when it equals the left hand
side. Also, the left hand side consist of the summation of vectors i.e. the product of a square
matrix and a vector is a vector.
To solve this massive set of equations, the following steps are followed here Start the solution
of the dynamic equation using the initial static condition of top tension and displacement thus:

 Find the tension at each node and possibly at the middle of each element from the static
tension equation given above this will enable the computation of the stiffness matrix of
each element. Starting from the estimated static effective top tension, the tension at each
node is computed as
T top To wd
Where d is the water depth.
From here, the tension in each element is calculated recursively as
Tk T top wk 1

Tk 1 T top wk 1 wk 2 k 1,2,..., n
wk wair wint. fluid wext . fluid l k
t

3-31

qk t q X k , Yk

Assume some static position

for each element in the global frame
(hence the nodal coordinates are known). In this assumed static position, structural
t

q k t q X k , Yk & t qk t q X k , Yk

velocity and acceleration

are zero. Using any of the
numerical integration methods stated above (Wilson-theta method used here) we get the
structural acceleration velocity and displacement for the next time step as
t t

q t q q

t t

q a1q a3 . t q a 4 t q

t t

3-31

q a0 q a 2 . q a4 q
t

qk

From these Wilson-theta integration expressions, knowing the initial displacement

as
assumed, we estimate the change in displacement when the wave and current loads are
applied from the dynamic equation above ** this change in displacement is then
substituted into the Wilson-theta velocity and acceleration equation for the next time step.
This iteration process is continued until the convergence is achieved.
Also, observe that for each new displacement calculated, the nodal coordinate changes
hence element length. Therefore, for each time step, the stiffness, mass and damping
matrices will change; this change must be captured by continuously updating the matrices
and the tension of each element since they both depend on the element length. the new
tension is given by [Rumbod Ghadimi] as
t
Tk t 1 Tk Tk

Tk
t 1

EA
t 2
lk

X
t

k1

X k 2 xk1 xk 2

Yk1 Yk 2 y k1 y k 2
3-32

Tk

=the static tension in the pipe initially. The new length will then be given by [A.M.
Roustad]
t t
T l
t 1
lk t lk k k
EA
3-33
This new length is used to update the matrices at each time step. The change in global
t t

q t q q

and local displacement vector is gotten from

.
Note also that the transformation matrix will be affected during the iteration.