A complete analytical solution for axial pipeline walking considering seabed resistance as rigid plastic behaviour

Offshore pipelines are important infrastructure for transporting oil and gas. They are subjected to cycles of high temperature and pressure variation during operation and shutdown periods, and are therefore susceptible to the stability problem of axial walking due to the asymmetry between the expansion and contraction. Axial walking can cause damage to subsea pipeline systems, for instance to the connected manifolds and steel catenary risers. This paper provides a complete analytical solution to examine the process of pipeline walking based on underlying principles of mechanics, considering the pipeline-seabed sliding response as rigid plastic. The analytical solution allows calculation of the cumulative displacement, strain, axial force and soil resistance along the pipeline under arbitrary temperature or internal pressure change histories, accounting for the coupled contributions from seabed slopes and end tension forces. A dimensionless parameter eta is proposed to explain the triggering mechanism for walking by comparing the activating force to the soil resistance. New criteria are established to judge whether pipeline axial walking is possible. Calculation examples are presented in the final part of this paper to demonstrate the analytical solution. This study can be used as a rigorous benchmark and a simple practical tool to evaluate pipeline walking under arbitrary loading histories of temperature and internal pressure variations.

Automated summary

Offshore pipelines are crucial for oil and gas transportation. This paper provides an analytical solution to study pipeline walking, considering the rigid plastic response of pipeline-seabed sliding. It proposes new criteria to determine whether pipeline axial walking is possible.