Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH140100012
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,997,672.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Offshore Floating Facilities. ARC Research Hub for Offshore Floating Facilities. This research hub aims to address the critical engineering challenges associated with Australia’s next generation of offshore oil and gas projects. These projects, in remote deep-water locations, will require innovative floating facilities. Using world-leading expertise in metocean, hydrodynamic, geotechnical and reliability engineering, the hub aims to develop the new technologies and analysis ....ARC Research Hub for Offshore Floating Facilities. ARC Research Hub for Offshore Floating Facilities. This research hub aims to address the critical engineering challenges associated with Australia’s next generation of offshore oil and gas projects. These projects, in remote deep-water locations, will require innovative floating facilities. Using world-leading expertise in metocean, hydrodynamic, geotechnical and reliability engineering, the hub aims to develop the new technologies and analysis methods that are required to make projects safe, efficient and cost-effective. This research will include wave and current forecasting, vessel motion and offloading analysis, riser and mooring longevity and novel anchoring and subsea foundations. This is expected to lead to safer, more economical projects and should develop Western Australia’s role as an oil and gas centre of excellence.Read moreRead less
Scour and scour protection around gravity anchors. The costs for scour protection around gravity anchors in a typical offshore project are in the order of 10-20 million dollars. With the increasing number of gravity anchors being installed in Australian waters, significant cost savings are expected to be achieved through improved understanding of local scour and scour protection around gravity anchors. The outcomes of this project can be applied directly to the design of new large diameter pipel ....Scour and scour protection around gravity anchors. The costs for scour protection around gravity anchors in a typical offshore project are in the order of 10-20 million dollars. With the increasing number of gravity anchors being installed in Australian waters, significant cost savings are expected to be achieved through improved understanding of local scour and scour protection around gravity anchors. The outcomes of this project can be applied directly to the design of new large diameter pipelines, will lead to reduction of scour protection costs and enhancement of safety of the pipeline to be stabilized, and increase the competitiveness of Australian oil and gas industry.Read moreRead less
Numerical Modelling of Three-dimensional Scour below Offshore Pipelines. Australia's increasing offshore oil and gas exploration has demanded more accurate and reliable methods for evaluating the safety and serviceability of pipelines. Local scour around pipelines is one of the major causes of pipeline failures, and is a major concern in Australian waters. This project not only addresses these concerns in its direct application to the design and management of offshore pipelines, but also will co ....Numerical Modelling of Three-dimensional Scour below Offshore Pipelines. Australia's increasing offshore oil and gas exploration has demanded more accurate and reliable methods for evaluating the safety and serviceability of pipelines. Local scour around pipelines is one of the major causes of pipeline failures, and is a major concern in Australian waters. This project not only addresses these concerns in its direct application to the design and management of offshore pipelines, but also will contribute to the nation's development and competitiveness in offshore exploration, and produce high quality research students. The improved design and management of pipelines in Australian waters will reduce the risk of potential environmental damages caused by leaking gas and oil.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101296
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$386,552.00
Summary
Unlocking lab-to-field scaling in design for floating offshore structures. This project aims to develop rigorous, physics-based models to accurately predict hydrodynamics of floating offshore structures at different scales. The project will address the issue between laboratory-to-field scaling, a fundamental problem in fluid dynamics. This outcome will be achieved through the integration of numerical technology, with physical modelling and field data acquisition. The outputs from this project wi ....Unlocking lab-to-field scaling in design for floating offshore structures. This project aims to develop rigorous, physics-based models to accurately predict hydrodynamics of floating offshore structures at different scales. The project will address the issue between laboratory-to-field scaling, a fundamental problem in fluid dynamics. This outcome will be achieved through the integration of numerical technology, with physical modelling and field data acquisition. The outputs from this project will reduce risks and improve operability of existing offshore structures, and lead to more efficient design for potential floating offshore projects. This will benefit the whole community of floating offshore structures and cement Australia’s place as a pioneer in offshore industry and emerging renewable energy sector.Read moreRead less
Predicting scour and scour-induced settlement of subsea infrastructure. This project aims to develop improved predictions and understanding of the potential and extent of scour and scour-induced settlement of subsea infrastructure on mobile seabeds. This is expected to enable scour and settlement to be accounted for directly in engineering stability and serviceability design, overturning current practice which ignores both effects on the basis of using scour protection and costly maintenance and ....Predicting scour and scour-induced settlement of subsea infrastructure. This project aims to develop improved predictions and understanding of the potential and extent of scour and scour-induced settlement of subsea infrastructure on mobile seabeds. This is expected to enable scour and settlement to be accounted for directly in engineering stability and serviceability design, overturning current practice which ignores both effects on the basis of using scour protection and costly maintenance and remediation. Development of accurate predictions is expected to be achieved through physical model testing, numerical modelling and analysis of field data. Predictions should improve subsea reliability and lead to omission of scour protection in some situations, increasing international competitiveness of our offshore oil and gas industry.Read moreRead less
Development of Models for the Three-Dimensional Analysis of Jack-Up Structures. Mobile jack-up structures perform most of the world's offshore drilling in water depths up to 120m, but have a higher accident rate then fixed installations. To improve their safety, this research will develop the framework for the integrated assessment of jack-up behaviour in three dimensions. To achieve this, an advanced plasticity model that describes cyclic behaviour of the circular shallow foundations of jack-up ....Development of Models for the Three-Dimensional Analysis of Jack-Up Structures. Mobile jack-up structures perform most of the world's offshore drilling in water depths up to 120m, but have a higher accident rate then fixed installations. To improve their safety, this research will develop the framework for the integrated assessment of jack-up behaviour in three dimensions. To achieve this, an advanced plasticity model that describes cyclic behaviour of the circular shallow foundations of jack-ups in both clay and sand will be developed and incorporated with random wave loading of seas in a dynamic structural analysis program. The anticipated advantages of the modelling techniques will be assessed against existing two dimensional industry guidelines and monitored field data. Read moreRead less
Hydroelasticity of compliant offshore structures. Australia's rich offshore oil and gas reserves are awaiting extensive deepwater extraction. However, there is still a lack of in-depth knowledge in the dynamic behavior of deepwater structures to ensure safe and cost-effective production. We hereby propose hydroelasticity theories and modelling techniques to investigate dynamic fluid-structure interaction problems for compliant offshore structures. We also propose innovative experiments to verify ....Hydroelasticity of compliant offshore structures. Australia's rich offshore oil and gas reserves are awaiting extensive deepwater extraction. However, there is still a lack of in-depth knowledge in the dynamic behavior of deepwater structures to ensure safe and cost-effective production. We hereby propose hydroelasticity theories and modelling techniques to investigate dynamic fluid-structure interaction problems for compliant offshore structures. We also propose innovative experiments to verify the theoretical work. One application is to configure a freestanding compliant tower to suit prospective deepwater oil and gas fields off North-West Australia. Expected outcomes include theoretical and experimental advances in deepwater offshore mechanics and practical computation tools for industry applications.Read moreRead less
Development of cyclic loading models for application in offshore geotechnics. The response of foundations for offshore structures to repetitive (cyclic) loads is a critical but still inadequately understood area of offshore geotechnics, with designs still usually based on simple modifications to monotonic loading conditions. In this project, a definitive framework for modelling cyclic behaviour will be established. Using this new approach, numerical models will be developed to address problems a ....Development of cyclic loading models for application in offshore geotechnics. The response of foundations for offshore structures to repetitive (cyclic) loads is a critical but still inadequately understood area of offshore geotechnics, with designs still usually based on simple modifications to monotonic loading conditions. In this project, a definitive framework for modelling cyclic behaviour will be established. Using this new approach, numerical models will be developed to address problems at all scales from fundamental constitutive behaviour of soils to macroscopic models for large foundation systems. Their application to offshore design problems (for renewable energy as well as traditional oil and gas applications) will be assessed. Recommendations to current international guidelines will also be made.Read moreRead less
Oceanic Conditions within Extreme Tropical Cyclones. Australia's tropical and subtropical areas include major infrastructure projects such as the North West shelf oil and gas projects, major mining operations, export ports, natural environments such as the Great Barrier Reef and major tourism industries. All these industries are crucially impacted by extreme tropical cyclones. Despite the importance of these systems, our present understanding of tropical cyclones is incomplete. This project will ....Oceanic Conditions within Extreme Tropical Cyclones. Australia's tropical and subtropical areas include major infrastructure projects such as the North West shelf oil and gas projects, major mining operations, export ports, natural environments such as the Great Barrier Reef and major tourism industries. All these industries are crucially impacted by extreme tropical cyclones. Despite the importance of these systems, our present understanding of tropical cyclones is incomplete. This project will significantly enhance our ability to carry out accurate engineering design of critical offshore infrastructure, as well as marine forecasts in such environments. As such, the project will have major scientific, economic and social benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less
MODAL AND DIRECTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SEASTATES AND THEIR IMPACT ON DYNAMICS OF MOORED OFFSHORE SYSTEMS. Under certain conditions a typical sea can becomes bimodal comprising of wind-driven seas and long period swells interacting from two directions. Using a nonlinear model, the occurrence and characteristics of bimodal and bi-directional seastates are quantified.
Low frequency oscillations of a moored offshore structure have profound design influence on the mooring system. A nonlinear res ....MODAL AND DIRECTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SEASTATES AND THEIR IMPACT ON DYNAMICS OF MOORED OFFSHORE SYSTEMS. Under certain conditions a typical sea can becomes bimodal comprising of wind-driven seas and long period swells interacting from two directions. Using a nonlinear model, the occurrence and characteristics of bimodal and bi-directional seastates are quantified.
Low frequency oscillations of a moored offshore structure have profound design influence on the mooring system. A nonlinear response model for a floating vessel in bimodal and bi-directional seastates, will be developed using nonlinear dynamics techniques. The numerical models for the environment and the floating platform will be validated by experiments at the Ocean Basin in Canada.
The project adopts a holistic approach by considering the environment and the moored platform as a complex natural system. With excellent opportunities for technology transfer, the project also benefits from substantial in-kind contributions of the overseas PIs.
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