Physical Modeling of Catenary Riser-Soil-Interaction

One of the important topics in Catenary Riser design is the SCR touch down region and its interaction with the seabed. Twenty-two pipe-soil interaction tests have been carried out. The soil used in the study is a clay from offshore West Africa. This unusual material, was artificially pre-consolidated under surcharge and then homogenised,. All tests were carried out on a stiff, aluminium pipe section. Pore pressures were measured at the pipe-soil interface at a number of locations. A load cell on the pipe support plates was used to obtain the net soil forces P (horizontal) and Q (vertical) on the pipe. The forces P and Q due to horizontal sweeping H from the centre of a preformed trench of width 3D and depth h, were the focus of investigation in these tests.