Offshore Civil Engineering Structures

Geophysical Applications in
Offshore Civil Engineering

Structures
Vikas
B.Tech. Civil 2nd Year
12113117
ES-201
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Contents
Topics
Page Number
Introduction
Review of Literature
Gap in Motivation
Objective
The Offshore Environment
Site Investigation
1. Desk Survey
2. Geophysical Survey
3. Geotechnical Survey
Offshore Structures and

Geotechnical Considerations
14
Conclusions
18
References
19
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Introduction
Offshore geotechnical engineering is a sub-field of geotechnical engineering. It is concerned
with foundation design, construction, maintenance, and de-commissioning for human-made
structures in the sea. Oil platforms, artificial islands and submarine pipelines are examples of
such structures.
The seabed has to be able to withstand the weight of these structures and the applied loads.
Geohazards must also be taken into account.
The need for offshore developments stems from a gradual depletion of hydrocarbon reserves
onshore or near the coastlines, as new fields are being developed at greater distances offshore
and in deeper water, with a corresponding adaptation of the offshore site investigations.
Today, there are more than 7,000 offshore platforms operating at a water depth up to and
exceeding 2000 m. A typical field development extends over tens of square kilometers, and may
comprise several fixed structures, infield flow lines with an export pipeline either to the
shoreline or connected to a regional trunk line.
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Review of Literature
Trends in Offshore Design Practice
General
Enormous costs of site investigation (> $1 million/borehole)
Focus more on capacity than deformations or stiffness
Strength determination: issues of anisotropy, degradation due to cyclic

loading, sampling challenge in deep water soft clays
Environmental loading more significant than for onshore yield

envelopes replacing bearing capacity factors
Shallow water
Driven pipe piles extension of onshore practice, but high capacity
Carbonate sediments alternative foundations to driven piles
Skirted gravity base foundations instead of (onshore) deep basements
Innovative use of short suction caissons in dense sands
Deep water
TLPs: Special attention to cyclic loading on tension piles
Anchoring technology (drag anchors, suction caissons etc)
Geohazards and pipelines
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Gap in Motivation
A large part of this paper focuses on the following:
Offshore environment characteristics.
Offshore site investigation.
Sampling and In situ laboratory testing.
Various types of offshore structures.
Soil and seabed characteristics.
Considerations on basis of geohazards at the site.
Bringing out geophysics as the core in development of offshore structures.
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Objective
The focus of this report is to highlight various geotechnical practices in construction of offshore
structures of various types.
The Offshore Environment

Offshore structures are exposed to various environmental loads: wind, waves, currents, and in
cold oceans, sea ice and icebergs. Environmental loads act primarily in the horizontal direction,
but also have a vertical component. Some of these loads get transmitted to the foundation (the
seabed). Wind, wave and current regimes can be estimated from meteorological and
oceanographic data, which are collectively referred to as metocean data.
Earthquake-induced loading can also occur they proceed in the opposite direction: from the
foundation to the structure. Depending on location, other geohazards may also be an issue.
All of these phenomena may affect the integrity or the serviceability of the structure and its
foundation during its operational lifespan they need to be taken into account in offshore
design.
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1. The Nature of Soil

Following are some to the features characterizing the soil in an offshore environment:
The soil is made up of sediments, which are generally assumed to be in a saturated

state saline water fills in the pore space.
Marine sediments are composed of detrital material as well as remains of marine
organisms, the latter making up calcareous soils.
Total sediment thickness varies on a regional scale it is normally higher near the
coastline than it is away from it, where it is also finer grained.
In places, the seabed can be devoid of sediment, due to strong bottom currents.
The consolidation state of the soil is either normally consolidated (due to slow
sediment deposition), overconsolidated (in places, a relic of glaciation) or
underconsolidated (due to high sediment input).
2. Metocean Aspects
Wave forces induce motion of floating structures in all six degrees of freedom they are a
major design criterion for offshore structures. When a waves orbital motion reaches the
seabed, it induces sediment transport. This only occurs to a water depth of about 200 meters
(660 ft.), which is the commonly adopted boundary between shallow water and deep water.
In shallow water, waves may generate pore pressure build-up in the soil, which may lead to
flow slide, and repeated impact on a platform may cause liquefaction and loss of support.
Currents are a source of horizontal loading for offshore structures. Because of the Bernoulli
effect, they may also exert upward or downward forces on structural surfaces and can induce
the vibration of wire lines and pipelines. Currents are responsible for eddies around a structure,
which cause scouring and erosion of the soil. There are various types of currents: oceanic
circulation, geostrophic, tidal, wind-driven, and density currents.
3. Geohazards
Geohazards are associated with geological activity, geotechnical features and
environmental conditions. Shallow geohazards are those occurring at less than 400 meters
(1,300 ft.) below the seafloor. Information on the potential risks associated with these
phenomena is acquired through studies of the geomorphology, geological setting and tectonic
framework in the area of interest, as well as with geophysical and geotechnical surveys of the
seafloor. Examples of potential threats include tsunamis, landslides, active faults, mud diapirs
and the nature of the soil layering (presence of karst, gas hydrates, and carbonates). In cold
regions, gouging ice features are a threat to subsea installations, such as pipelines. The risks
associated with a particular type of geohazard is a function of how exposed the structure is to
the event, how severe this event is and how often it occurs (for episodic events). Any threat has
to be monitored, and mitigated for or removed.
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Various types of offshore geohazards.
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Site Investigation
Offshore site investigations are mainly divided into three parts:
1. Desk Study
In this phase, which may take place over a period of several months (depending on project
size), information is gathered from various sources, including reports, papers and databases,
with the purpose of evaluating risks, assessing design options and planning the subsequent
phases. Bathymetry, regional geology, potential geohazards, seabed obstacles and metocean
data are some of the information that are sought after during that phase.
2. Geophysical Surveys
Geophysical surveys can be used for various purposes. One is to study the bathymetry in the
location of interest and to produce an image of the seafloor (irregularities,
objects on the seabed, lateral variability, ice gouges etc.). Seismic refraction
surveys can be done to obtain information on shallow seabed stratigraphy
it can also be used to locate material such as sand and gravel for use in the
construction of artificial islands. Geophysical surveys are conducted from a
research vessel equipped with sonar devices and related equipment, such
as single-beam and multibeam echosounders, side-scan sonars, towfish
and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). For the sub-bottom stratigraphy,
the tools used include boomers, sparkers, pingers and chirp. Geophysical
surveys are normally required before conducting the geotechnical surveys;
in larger projects, these phases may be interwoven.
A 3-D image of the Monterey Canyon system, an example of what can be obtained from
multibeam echosounders.
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3. Geotechnical Surveys
Geotechnical surveys involve a combination of sampling, drilling, in situ testing as well as
laboratory soil testing both onshore and offshore. They serve to ground truth the results of the
geophysical investigations; they also provide a detailed account of the seabed stratigraphy and
soil engineering properties. Depending on water depth and metocean conditions, geotechnical
surveys may be conducted from a dedicated geotechnical drillship, a semi-submersible, a
jackup rig, a large hovercraft or other means. They are done at a series of specific locations,
while the vessel maintains a constant position. Dynamic positioning and mooring with fourpoint anchoring systems are used for that purpose.
Shallow penetration geotechnical surveys may include soil sampling of the seabed surface or in
situ mechanical testing. They are used to generate information on the physical and mechanical
properties of the seabed. They extend to the first few meters below the mudline. Surveys done
to these depths, which may be conducted at the same time as the shallow geophysical survey,
may suffice if the structure to be deployed at that location is relatively light. These surveys are
also useful for planning subsea pipeline routes.
The purpose of deep penetration geotechnical surveys is to collect information on the seabed
stratigraphy to depths extending up to a few 100 meters below the mudline. These surveys are
done when larger structures are planned at these locations. Deep drill holes make require a few
days during which the drilling unit has to remain exactly in the same position.
Sampling and Drilling

Seabed surface sampling can be done with a grab sampler and with a box corer. The
latter provides undisturbed specimens, on which testing can be conducted, for instance,
to determine the soils relative density, water content and mechanical properties.
Sampling can also be achieved with a tube corer, either gravity-driven, or that can be
pushed into the seabed by a piston or by means of a vibration system (a device called a
vibrocorer).
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Drilling is another means of sampling the seabed. It is used to obtain
a record of the seabed stratigraphy or the rock formations below it.
The set-up used to sample an offshore structure's foundation is
similar to that used by the oil industry to reach and delineate
hydrocarbon reservoirs, with some differences in the types of
testing. The drill string consists of a series of pipe segments 5 inches
(13 cm) in diameter screwed end to end, with a drillbit assembly at
the bottom. As the dragbit (teeth extending downward from the
drillbit) cut into the soil, soil cuttings are produced. Viscous drilling
mud flowing down the drillpipe collects these cuttings and carry them up outside the
drillpipe. As is the case for onshore geotechnical surveys, different tools can be used for
sampling the soil from a drill hole, notably "Shelby tubes", "piston samplers" and "split
spoon samplers".
In Situ Soil Testing

Information on the mechanical strength of the soil can be obtained in situ (from the
seabed itself as opposed to in a laboratory from a soil sample). The advantage of this
approach is that the data are obtained from soil that has not suffered any disturbance as
a result of its relocation. Two of the most commonly used instruments used for that
purpose are the cone penetrometer (CPT) and the shear vane.
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The CPT is a rod-shaped tool whose end has the shape of a cone with a known apex
angle (e.g. 60 degrees). As it is pushed into the soil, the resistance to penetration is
measured, thereby providing an indication of soil strength. A sleeve behind the cone
allows the independent determination of the frictional resistance. Some cones are also
able to measure pore water pressure. The shear vane test is used to determine the
undrained shear strength of soft to medium cohesive soils. This instrument usually
consists of four plates welded at 90 degrees from each other at the end of a rod. The
rod is then inserted into the soil and a torque is applied to it so as to achieve a constant
rotation rate. The torque resistance is measured and an equation is then used to
determine the undrained shear strength (and the residual strength), which takes into
account the vanes size and geometry.
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Offshore Structures and Geotechnical

Considerations
Offshore structures are mainly represented by platforms, notably jackup rigs, steel jacket
structures and gravity-based structures. The nature of the seabed has to be taken into account
when planning these developments. For instance, a gravity-based structure typically has a very
large footprint and is relatively buoyant (because it encloses a large open volume). Under these
circumstances, vertical loading of the foundation may not be as significant as the horizontal
loads exerted by wave actions and transferred to the seabed. In that scenario, sliding could be
the dominant mode of failure. A more specific example is that of the Woodside "North Rankin
A" steel jacket structure offshore Australia. The shaft capacity for the piles making up each of
the structure's legs was estimated on the basis of conventional design methods, notably when
driven into siliceous sands. But the soil at that site was a lower capacity calcareous sand. Costly
remediation measures were required to correct this oversight.
Proper seabed characterization is also required for mooring systems. For instance, the design
and installation of suction piles has to take into account the soil properties, notably its
undrained shear strength. The same is true for the installation and capacity assessment of plate
anchors.
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Conclusions
Exploiting hydrocarbon resources in deep-water poses an increasing challenge, especially site
characterization of very soft sediments. Calibration of in situ test results by variably disturbed
laboratory strengths is a losing strategy. Strive for improved design basis with foundation and
anchor performance related directly to in situ penetration resistance. Cost-benefits for
improvement in design approaches for conventional shallow and pile foundations. Simple and
robust anchoring systems a priority.
Geophysical and Geotechnical practices are at the heart of designing the offshore structures
like oil rigs, wind farms, and piles. The sonar mapping, surveying and mechanical analysis of the
seabed are done in every such development work.
Offshore Geotechnical Engineering offers major challenges and fantastic opportunities for
development of innovative solutions.
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References
Offshore Geotechnical Engineering; Richard Dean, E.T.
Recommended Site Investigation Practices for Offshore Energy Systems; DeGroot, Don J.,
University of Massachusetts, USA
Challenges of Offshore Geotechnical Engineering; Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems,
University of Western Australia
Offshore Engineering; www.imc.src.ku.ac.th/personnel/file_subject/20101122955391.pdf
Construction of marine and offshore structures; Gerwick B.C.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offshore_geotechnical_engineering

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Offshore Civil Engineering Structures

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Geophysical Applications in

Offshore Civil Engineering

The Offshore Environment

Offshore Structures and

Enormous costs of site investigation (> $1 million/borehole)

Focus more on capacity than deformations or stiffness

Strength determination: issues of anisotropy, degradation due to cyclic

Environmental loading more significant than for onshore yield

Driven pipe piles extension of onshore practice, but high capacity

Carbonate sediments alternative foundations to driven piles

Skirted gravity base foundations instead of (onshore) deep basements

Innovative use of short suction caissons in dense sands

TLPs: Special attention to cyclic loading on tension piles

Anchoring technology (drag anchors, suction caissons etc)

Geohazards and pipelines

Offshore environment characteristics.

Offshore site investigation.

Sampling and In situ laboratory testing.

Various types of offshore structures.

Soil and seabed characteristics.

Considerations on basis of geohazards at the site.

Bringing out geophysics as the core in development of offshore structures.

The Offshore Environment

1. The Nature of Soil

The soil is made up of sediments, which are generally assumed to be in a saturated

Various types of offshore geohazards.

Sampling and Drilling

In Situ Soil Testing

Offshore Structures and Geotechnical

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