Damage Assessment of Free-fall Dropped Object on Sub-seabed in Offshore Operation

Abstract

This paper presents the damage assessment of a free-fall dropped object on the seabed. The damage to a dropped object totally depends on the relationship between the impact energy and the soil strength at the mudline. In this study, unexpected dropping scenarios were first assumed by varying the relevant range of the impact velocity, structure geometry at the moment of impact, and soil strength profile along the penetration depth. Theoretical damage assessments were then undertaken for a free-fall dropping event with a fixed final embedment depth for the structure. This paper also describes the results of a three-dimensional large deformation finite element analysis undertaken for the purpose of validation. The analyses were carried out using the coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian approach, modifying the simple elastic-perfectly plastic Tresca soil model. The validation exercises for each dropping scenario showed good agreement, and the present numerical approach was capable of predicting the behavior of a free-fall dropped object.