~ Pergamon Wat. ScL .hc~T Vol. 32. No.2. pp. 233-240. 1995.

Copyrigbt C 1995 lAWQ

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COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN OF
SUBMARINE PIPELINES

Umit Gokkus
Celal Bayar University. Faculty ofEngineering, Department ofCivil Engineering.
45040 Manisa. Turkey

ABSTRACT
The compu!erization of pipeline design is relatively important for the engineering feasibility of submarine
pipelines. The changing environmental conditions make diffICulties for the stability calculation of eacb pipe
segment on line. For this reason. the computer study will provide many advanlages during the design of
pipeline. The different environmental and functional parameters can be easily tried on line and the most
suilable size of structure against the extreme environmental conditions can be determined.
This study deals with the general design principles especially including the engineering studies, i.e. wave
statistical analysis, transformation of waves. slability analysis, and developed computer program to achieve
both the slabilization of pipeline and aid for drawing the route together with user in some slages of the
design.
FmalIy, the outline of the program is briefly desaibed and a flow chan is presented.

KEYWORDS

Hydrodynamic forces; pipeline stability; submarine pipeline design; wave refraction.

INTRODUCTION

Pipelines play an important role in the exploration of ocean resources. and therefore they have drawn special
attention for some years. They are widely used for municipal and industrial wastewater outfalls. oil and gas
transmission. cooling water intakes and outlets. and submarine power and communication cables.

Designing and constructing submarine pipeline systems to remain operationally functional and structurally
stable in an ocean environment for an extended design life is more difficult than conventional terrestrial
pipelines because the ocean is a dynamic environment. The designer must especially consider the pipeline•
water-soil interaction.

The aim of this study is to computerize the stability calculations of pipelines and to provide easy evaluation
of alternative routes both from a technical and economic point of view.

GENERAL DESIGN PROCEDURE

The general planning of the project is governed by a function of submarine pipeline characteristics versus
the detennining environmental factors which characterize the area.
233
234 O.GOKKUS

In the scope of this study. the site study. route study and selection. pipeline design engineering and partly
technical and economic fmdings are considered. Some detailed activities are excluded because of the
differences in construction methods and because they require more practical/economic information.

A. Desien wave

To obtain the design wave. short-term statistics are used for evaluating the actual data based on the wave
measurements in the considered area. According to this analysis. the spectral energy density is calculated by
using the Fast Fourier Transform. The significant wave heights obtained from the spectrum curve are
evaluated by the Extreme value distribution (The Fisher-Tippett I. FT-I) from cumulative probability
distributions. The design wave height and period are however founded. The energy spectrum obtained by
FFT (Eq.l) is (Chakrabarti. 1987: Karadeniz. 1989)

1 N
S(w) - - - [ I y(n.At) ej2rl(n.At) At ] 2 (1)
Ts n=1

where y(t) =wave proflle as a function of time. Ts =the length of record. w =wave angular frequency.
N =number of data points in each section. t =time increment or sampling rate. and f =frequency increment.

Cumulative probability distribution. FT-I (Eq.2). can be described by (World Meteorological Organisation.
1988)

F(Hs) = exp { - exp [ - (Hs - A) I B ] } (2)

where F(Hs) =the cumulative probability distribution, Hs =the significant wave height, A and B =intercept
and slope, respectively, of straight line plotted in probability paper (these values can be computed by using
statistical parameters). As a result of this, the significant wave height versus the 50-year return period. Hs S!)
is obtained. An estimate of the zero-downcrossing or zero-upcrossing wave period Tz at the time when the
significant wave height has an extreme value is obtained by assuming a specific value for significant wave
steepness. Often, a value of 1/18 for ocean sites and 1/14 for fetch-limited areas are used so Tz is obtained
from (WMO. 1988)

(27t.Hsso) I (g.Tz2) =1/18 or 1/14 (3)

where Tz =mean wave period, and g =acceleration due to gravity.

B. Modification of waves due to sea-bed

When the waves propagate into shallow water, a number of modifications take place: shoaling, refraction
and energy losses. In this study, these factors are taken into account by considering the simple sinusoidal
wave.

The shoaling effect occurs when the presence of the sea-bed affects the celerity of the wave energy, relative
to the phase speed of the wave. The shoaling factor Ks is described in the literature (U.S. Coastal
Engineering Research Center, 1984).

Another process is the phenomenon of water wave refraction. The variation of the wave direction by
refraction for the case of regular waves can be estimated graphically by hand or by numerical computation
with a computer.

In this computation technique. the ray trajectory equation describing the wave ort1logonals (rays) and the
optical theory are basically employed. It is only valid when the wave heights are infinitesimally small and
sea bed is flat. The complexity of the mathematical model is overcome by using complexly the numerical
 Computer-aided design of submarine pipelines 235

wave refraction method developed which predicts the way that surface gravity waves propagate over a given
sea-bed topography.

The sea-bed topography is presented by constructing the grid system (rectangular form) composed of two
orthogonal triangular meshes. The depth values of each mesh are placed at its nodal points. The sea-bed
beneath each triangle is assumed to have a constant slope. so the depth at any point within the mesh can be
determined by linear interpolation using the depths at the vertices (Fig. 1). In this case. the accuracy of this
approximation depends on the grid size and the sea-bed topography.

While waves have been propagating to the shore. the velocities at the vertices of each triangle are calculated
by the Linear Wave Theory because it is assumed that the ray reveals a linear behavior. The effect of this
assumption is that the ray path across the region becomes a circular arc. and this may be described with the
ray trajectory equation (Eq. 4) as follows (Brampton. 1977)

da l1C
- =-N-- (4)
cis C
Here. s is a distance measured along the wave ray and a is an angle with respect to some reference direction.
N. daJds and C represent the curvature of the wave crest, ray and wave phase speed. respectively. This
complex problem can be simplified in accordance with the numerical technique dealt with in the literature.

incoming
y'\ ~ " '... 2.----.-
/...........
_.-- .......
ray

I~GY
.........
/'........ """'-
/ -'-- "
I~ ~
/
-.:~f_
1 circular
! li~I:-X
I ' I I
path

center of
circle

Figure 1. Sea-bed representation. Figure 2. Circular ray path across a triangle mesh.

The prediction of the path across a triangle can be treated as a simple geometry problem to ftnd the
intersections of a circle and the lines which form the three sides of that triangle (Fig. 2). So a ray can be
followed from its starting point to the edge of the rectangular region or the depth (in shallow water) where
the minimum wave celerity occurs.

As a result of these operations. the refraction coefficient Kr (Eq. 5) can be derived. This coefficient can be
expressed as

Kr =(11 ~)12 (5)

where ~ is the ray separation factor. This is yielded by the numerical solution of the ray separation equation.
written in Eq. 6. obtained from the simplication of the ray trajectory equation under the some boundary
conditions dealt with in the literature (Brampton. 1977).
236 O. GOKKUS

d y P iflc
C- (-)+-- - - =0 (6)
ds C C oN2

Here, y = dPlds and y I C is constant along the ray path. Applying this above-mentioned equation for the
intemeighbor triangular meshes, the refraction coefficient is calculated.

Taking both the refraction factor Kr and the shoaling factor Ks, the modified wave height H in connection to
the wave height in deep water Ho becomes

H=Kr. Ks.Ho (7)

So Kr and Ks must be calculated for each wave across the pipeline.

C. Wave breakin~

The separation of water particles from the wave under the action of gravity is known as wave breaking. The
wave breaking process causes energy dissipation by turbulence. When waves that are a certain range of
steepness (HIL) move over a sloping beach and the depth decreases to a value. which is of the same order of
magnitude as the wave-height , the waves become unstable and eventually break. To calculate the wave
breaking height Hb and its depth db, Goda's empirically derived curves and relationships derived by Weggel
recommended in the Shore Protection Manual VoI.I. (CERC, 1984) are used. This analysis causes the
detennination of the surf zone where certain part of pipeline will be buried. Buried pipelines are often
preferable to those exposed on the sea-bed because they are subjected to damage from the hydrodynamic
forces of waves, ship anchors, viscous and turbulent effects, unstable sea bottoms, erosion under the pipe
and massive littoral drift.

p. Hydrodynamic wave foeces

In order to calculate the current and wave induced forces acting on a pipeline, the velocities of waves and
the currents and acceleration of waves, the viscosity and density of sea water and dimension and shape of the
pipe must be known. In this study, cylindrical pipes are considered. The most commonly used fonnula for
estimating the wave force on a circular cylinder is due to Morrison (Eq. 8) (Plate, 1982)

(8)
where A is the projected area perpendicular to the direction of u and V M the volume of the fluid displaced
by the body, both per unit length.

Wave induced forces. The wave force on a cylinder can be computed by substituting the expressions for u
and u due to wave motion, in Eq. 8. Under the linear approximation, the surface elevation 11, and the
horizontal components of the orbital velocity and acceleration, u and U, are given as follows (Plate, 1982;
Sarpkaya and Isaacson, 1981)

11 = a cos(kx-wt) (9)

cosh k(d+z)
u = •. W [ ] cos(kx-wt) (10)
sinh kd
 Computer-aided design of submarine pipelines 237

cosh k(d+z)
U• a vr [ ]sin(kx-wt) (11)
sinh kd

Therefore, assuming the location of the pipe to be x =0, an expression of the total horizontal wave force Fb
according to the small amplitude approximation (T\/d«l) is written as follows (plate. 1982)

PwCDDa2 2kd
Fh = {1+ - - - } lcos wtl cos wt - - - - - - (tanh kd )sin wt (12)
4 sinh 2kd 4

Co and CM are drag and inertia coefficients, respectively. defined by the Reynolds number Um.D/v w
(v = kinematic viscosity of water), and the Keulegan-Carpenter number Um TID (Um = the maximum
vaiue of the horizontal velocity).

The total vertical wave force Fv is the lift force fonnulized in the following equation (Chakrabarti, 1987)

Fv =(112) Pw D CL u2 (13)

where CL indicates the lift force coefficient which is a function of Reynolds number. Keulegan-Carpenter
number. pipe roughness and distance between the pipe and a fixed boundary.

To calculate the maximum hydrodynamic force on the pipeline, the phase relationship between the drag and
inertia force tenns of waves must be considered.

Cu"ent-inducedforces. The variation in current velocity is relatively small. Because of this. the inertia force
can be neglected. For the stability calculation of pipes, only lift and drag forces are taken into account If the
velocities and coefficients are detennined in accordance with the current, the similar force tenns are
calculated and summed by the previous forces.

Force coefficients. In this study, the force coefficients required for calculating the hydrodynamic forces are
taken in convenient fonn from DNV Rules (Det Norske Veritas. 1982).

E Other CAlculation principles

According to the types of soil where the pipeline is laid. and the pipe-soil contact area, the geotechnical
analysis including the ultimate bearing capacity and sliding resistance both for the cohesive and cohesionless
soils can be taken into account as dealt with in the literature. However, the pipeline stabilization
equilibriums and vortex shedding phenomena for elevated pipelines must be considered to provide the
stability of the pipeline.

Structural analysis must include the analysis of the stresses resulting from the sea-bottom roughness, laying
process, thennal expansion of pipe, curvature of pipe and internal-extemalloads acting on the pipe.

COMPUfER·AIDED DESIGN

In order to achieve systematically the pipeline stabilization for each segment of pipeline and make easily a
decision for each alternative route, a computer program and computer aided design of pipeline is needed. In
the scope of this study. the developed program is called SUPLID (SUbmarine PipeLIne Design). By taking
into account the economic analysis, it is possible to design interactively the pipeline across the sea and laid
from shore to shore or from the shore to deep waters. The program is composed of a main program and
thirteen sub-programs coded in QUICK BASIC. A flow diagram of this program and intercoMection of the
sub-programs are shown in Fig. 3.
238 O.GOKKUS

I SUPLID

I WAJ-ESTAT DATA

r--l REFRAC I -I LlNEVDAT

1
DATPROC I

IDD£"AYT

~ ~· ~"·.HV

PROFLINI

. . . . . . . . ~.n".

ICHAPAREN

IPIPSTAB

I ECONOMI

/INOUTPUT I

Figure 3. Main program SUPLID.

These sub-programs can be listed as WAVESTAT (Statistical Analysis of Short-Long Tenn Wave Data),
DATA, DATPROC (Data Processing), UNEVDAT (Environmental Data on Line), REFRAC (Wave
Refraction), BREAKLIN (Wave Breaking on Line), BURYLIN (Buried Line). PROFLIN (Pipeline
Profiling), pmAPROC (Pipe-Bathymetry Data Processing), CHAPAREN (Characteristics Parameters on
Environment), PIPSTAB (Pipeline Stabilization), ECONOM (Economical Analysis) and INOUTPtIT
(Inputs and Outputs). These programs can be briefly described as foUows(Gokkus and Akiarll , 1994)

SUPLID A main program

WAVESTAT This program calculates the design wave according to the data on waves for short-tenn
statistics or the data on wind for long-tenn statistics.

DATA This contains the data files concerned with the sea-bed topography <BAmATA>, the soil
classification <ZEMDATA>, current velocity and direction <CURRENT> and pipeline
 Computer-aided design of submarine pipelines 239

coordination on horizontal plane <PIPECOOR> to be defmed for each nodal point of grid
system.

DATPROC Environmental data defined at each nodal point are collected within this file.

UNEVDAT Environmental data corresponding to the pipeline coordinates are determined.

REFRAC Ray path and refraction coefficient are calculated.

BREAKLIN Wave breaking analysis is achieved and breaking depth is determined.

BURYUN According to the breaking depth. surf zone. therefore the critical depth at which part of
pipeline will be buried is determined.

PROFUN Pipeline is drawn at the vertical plane by user as interactive with respect to the surf zone.
bathymetry. and soil classification. Pipeline is composed of 5-metre segments and their
coordinates are transformed to the horizontal plane.

PIBAPROC The water depth for each segment is determined in accordance with pipeline profile on the
vertical plane. Angles between wave orthogonal and pipe to new coordinates of segments
defined on horizontal plane and environmental characteristics acting on each pipe
(segment) are calculated.

CHAPAREN It includes water-soil-pipe interaction. To the distance between sea bottom and pipe. each
pipe coordinates are smoothed. The pipes are classified into buried and surface pipes.

PIPSTAB This program achieves the stability analysis involving the suitable sizes of pipe and coating
materials. For each alternative line. the maximum sizes satisfying the stability against the
extreme conditions are taken as dominant

ECONOM Pipeline lenght, coating and support sizes reveal the amount of steel and concrete material.
Accordingly. the manufacturing costs of each alternative pipeline are stated. Among them.
one with the minimum cost is selected in convenient

INOUTPUT The whole fmdings placed at input and output files can be printed.

CONCLUSIONS

The program program provides many advantages for pipeline design in the marine environment and submits
the interactive working environment to the user. Morever. it enables designers to solve satisfactorily several
problems faced in respect of oceanography. geoteehnics. pipe properties. whilst additionally being of interest
to other disciplines related to the field of water-soil-pipe interaction. Some of the problems able to be solved
by this program are as follows

• wave refraction analysis can be carried out even for the regions which have the complex bathymetry;
• some parts of the route where soil and bottom properies varies frequently can be drawn by computer;
• from the aspect of the stabilization. the most critical conditions can be applied to the design problem.

Even though more complex problems involving vortices. internal stresses. buckling and collapse.
geotechnics and wave dynamics can be analyzed. the variability of knowledge at the reference level relating
the computational methods. construction technology. and noitarep~c m-noitursc costs sets
even the limited expansion of this program under some constraints.
240 O.GOKKUS

REFERENCES
AkyarD, A.(l979). Use of Wind Data to Determine Wave Qimare, Ege Oniversitesl Dergisi. J. AegeQII University, No.3. lzmir,
Turkey, 2/1-11 (in Turkish).
BramplOO, A. H.(1977). A Computer Method for Wave Refraction, Repon No:IT-17S, Hydraulic Research Station, Wallingford,
England.
0Iakrabarti, S. K.(1987). Hydrodynamics of Offshore StTllcrures, Computational Mechanics Publications, Southampton, Boston,
U.S.A.
Det Norske Veritas (DNV) (1982). Rules for Submarine Pipeline Systems, Oslo. Norway.
Ooda, Y.(l974). Estimation of Wave Statistics from Speclrallnformation, Procudings of Intel7lOlional Symposium on OceQII
Wave Measurement and Analysis, VoU, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A, pp.320-337.
GOklrus, 0., AkyarD, A. (1994). Optimum Design of Submarine Pipeline, Proc. Fourth (/994) Int. Offshore and Polar
Engineering Cont, Osaka, Japan, Vol.ll., .~3
Karadeniz, H.(l989). Advanced Stochastic Analysis Program foc Offshore Structures, Delft University of Technology, Repon
No:2S.2.89.I.II, Delft, The Netherlands.
Plate, E. J. (1982). Engineering Meteorology, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company. New York, U.S.A.
Sarpkaya, T. and Isaacson, M.(l98\). Mech4nics ofWave Forces on Offshore StTllctures. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.. New York,
U.S.A.
U.S. Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERe) (1984). Shore Protection Manual. VoU-D, U.S. Government Printing OffICe •
Washington DC, U.S.A.
Wolters, J. G. (1992). Fundamentals ofPipeline Engineering, Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, U.S.A.
World Meteorological Organization <WMO) (1988). Guide to Wave Analysis and Forecasting, WMO-No:702, Geneva,
Switzerland.