Undergraduate Teaching 2023-24

Engineering Tripos Part IIB, 4D9: Offshore Geotechnical Engineering, 2019-20

Engineering Tripos Part IIB, 4D9: Offshore Geotechnical Engineering, 2019-20

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Module Leader

Dr C Abadie

Lecturers

Dr C Abadie, Dr S Stanier & Dr D Liang

Timing and Structure

Lent term. 14 Lectures + 2 examples classes. Assessment: 100% exam

Prerequisites

3D2 assumed

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

  • Introduce the geology and geotechnical properties of the seabed in renewable energy and hydrocarbon producing regions;
  • Develop awareness of the geohazards prevalent in the offshore environment;
  • Introduce offshore site investigation techniques and methods of sediment characterisa- tion;
  • Introduce the design of geotechnical offshore infrastructure including pipelines, shallow foundations, piles and anchors, for both renewable energy and hydrocarbon producing facilities;
  • Develop an awareness of the potential impact of scour on subsea infrastructure.

Content

The offshore environment (2 hours: sas229)

  • A historical perspective on energy production in the oshore environment
  • Continental drift and plate tectonics
  • Extent and topography of the Continental margins
  • Sediment characteristics, distribution and origins
  • Offshore geohazards

Offshore site investigation (2 hours: sas229)

  • Purpose and techniques
  • Geophysical and geotechnical surveys
  • In-situ tests: cone penetrometer, full-flow penetrometers and vane shear
  • Sampling methods
  • Simple shear testing: strain and pore pressure accumulation
  • Model testing

Pipelines (2 hours: sas229)

  • Pipeline systems and terminology
  • Routing and hazard avoidance
  • Pipeline installation
  • Hydrodynamic stability and thermal expansion management
  • On-bottom pipelines: embedment, axial and lateral resistance
  • Buried pipelines: uplift resistance

Shallow foundations (2 hours: cna24)

  • Types and applications
  • Ultimate limit state: bearing capacity and failure envelope approaches
  • Installation of embedded shallow foundations
  • Serviceability limit state: immediate and consolidation settlements
  • Removal of shallow foundations

Piles (2 hours: cna24)

  • Types and applications
  • North Sea examples: oshore renewables and hydrocarbon producing platforms
  • Axial response:
    • Capacity and stiffness
    • Behaviour in clay / sand / rock
    • Linear elastic pile stiness solutions
    • Numerical analysis using the load transfer method
  • Lateral response:
    • Limiting lateral resistance and design charts
    • Typical P-y curves
    • PISA
    • Design for cyclic loading

Anchors (2 hours: cna24)

  • Type of buoyant facilities and mooring configurations
  • Types of anchor:
    • Surface / gravity anchors
    • Embedded anchors: piles, caissons and drag anchors
  • Design principles for:
    • Anchor chain response
    • Drag anchors
    • Suction caissons
  • Next generation anchors

Scour (2 hours: dl359)

  • Scour processes: sediment transport and scour hole development
  • Scour hole measurement techniques
  • Predicting scour around: pipelines and pile foundations
  • Scour remediation techniques

Booklists

Please see the Booklist for Group D Courses for references for this module.

Examination Guidelines

Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.

UK-SPEC

This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:

Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.

General Learning Outcomes

Graduates with the exemplifying qualifications, irrespective of registration category or qualification level, must satisfy the following criteria:

 
Last modified: 13/09/2019 10:34