Improvement of Seabed Cable Plough Tow Force Prediction Models

TY - GEN

T1 - Improvement of Seabed Cable Plough Tow Force Prediction Models

AU - Robinson, Scott

AU - Brown, Michael J.

AU - Brennan, Andrew J.

AU - Cortis, Michael

AU - Augarde, Charles E.

AU - Coombs, William M.

PY - 2017/9/12

Y1 - 2017/9/12

N2 - As the use of offshore renewable energy sources such as wind and wave energy systems expands, they repre-sent an increasing portion of the energy mix. Subsea cables connecting these resources are subject to many hazards, making cable burial using cable ploughing an important tool in preventing unplanned outages and downtime. This represents a significant installation cost for offshore renewables and there is a need to im-prove the accuracy of both tow force, plough speed predictions and final burial depth of the cable. These are currently made using semi-empirical models as the large soil displacements involved cause instabilities in the finite element analysis. This paper provides an overview of work to develop new material point method numerical software to allow cable ploughing to be analysed and optimised. The focus of this paper is the physical modelling carried out to provide validation of the software, which includes both 1g and centrifuge testing, as well as considering interim ways to improve the existing semi-empirical models.

AB - As the use of offshore renewable energy sources such as wind and wave energy systems expands, they repre-sent an increasing portion of the energy mix. Subsea cables connecting these resources are subject to many hazards, making cable burial using cable ploughing an important tool in preventing unplanned outages and downtime. This represents a significant installation cost for offshore renewables and there is a need to im-prove the accuracy of both tow force, plough speed predictions and final burial depth of the cable. These are currently made using semi-empirical models as the large soil displacements involved cause instabilities in the finite element analysis. This paper provides an overview of work to develop new material point method numerical software to allow cable ploughing to be analysed and optimised. The focus of this paper is the physical modelling carried out to provide validation of the software, which includes both 1g and centrifuge testing, as well as considering interim ways to improve the existing semi-empirical models.

KW - Cable

KW - Ploughing

KW - Renewable energy

KW - Sand

U2 - 10.3723/OSIG17.914

DO - 10.3723/OSIG17.914

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9780906940570 (hbk) Volume 1

SN - 9780906940587 (hbk) Volume 2

VL - 1-2

SP - 914

EP - 921

BT - Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics: Smarter Solutions for Future Offshore Developments

PB - Society for Underwater Technology

T2 - 8th Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics International Conference

Y2 - 12 September 2017 through 14 September 2017

ER -