Entry Date:
December 16, 2001

Vortex-Induced Vibrations (VIV) of Marine Risers\n\n

Principal Investigator J Vandiver

Project Website http://web.mit.edu/shear7/


Vortex-Induced Vibrations (VIV) of Marine Risers

J. Kim Vandiver's MIT research team works on Vortex-Induced Vibration (VIV) of marine risers. Current research topics include:

(*) Improving the VIV response prediction program (SHEAR7)
(*) Conducting high mode number VIV field experiments
(*) Modeling vibration suppression, including fairings and strakes

This work is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and two Joint Industry Projects. The principal sponsor of the field experiments is a large group of companies known as “Deepstar”. The second is informally known as “The SHEAR7 JIP”. This group has sponsored Prof. Vandiver’s VIV research for over ten years. The current members are BP, ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, Intec, Norsk Hydro, Petrobras, Shell, SOFEC, Statoil, and Technip.

Deepstar Experimental VIV Program

The desire for ease of mechanical handling together with a long fatigue life ultimately lead to the selection of a fiberglass coil tubing pipe for the testing program. The type of instrumentation was selected to be a network of triaxial accelerometers. This was decided after an investigation into various state-of-the-art technologies and whether they can be easily implemented.

(*) Does lock-in occur at high mode number in uniform flows or sheared flow?
(*) How is the boundary between single and multi-mode behavior affected by mode number, shear, and damping?
(*) What is the relative contribution of in-line and cross-flow response to up-crossing frequency, stress amplitude, and fatigue damage rate?
(*) How much fairing coverage is required to prevent significant VIV?
(*) Can we measure hydrodynamic damping during VIV?
(*) How does mean Cd vary with A/D and the number of participating modes.