Incorporating uplift in the analysis of shallowly embedded pipelines

Under large storm loads sections of a long pipeline on the seabed can be uplifted. Numerically this loss of contact is extremely difficult to simulate, but accounting for uplift and any subsequent recontact behaviour is a critical component in pipeline on-bottom stability analysis. A simple method numerically accounting for this uplift and reattachment, while utilising efficient force-resultant models, is provided in this paper. While force-resultant models use a plasticity framework to directly relate the resultant forces on a segment of pipe to the corresponding displacement, their historical development has concentrated on precisely modelling increasing capacity with penetration. In this paper, the emphasis is placed on the description of loss of penetration during uplifting, modelled by \'strainsoftening\' of the force-resultant yield surface. The proposed method employs uplift and reattachment criteria to determine the pipe uplift and recontact. The pipe node is allowed to become free, and therefore, the resistance to the applied hydrodynamic loads to be redistributed along the pipeline. Without these criteria, a localised failure will be produced and the numerical program will terminate due to singular stiffness matrix. The proposed approach is verified with geotechnical centrifuge results. To further demonstrate the practicability of the proposed method, a computational example of a 1245 m long pipeline subjected to a large storm in conditions typical of offshore North-West Australia is discussed.