Hydrodynamic Coefficients for Riser In-Line VIV in Sheared Currents

A methodology for analyzing risers for in-line VIV fatigue damage has been developed that is based on the code SHEAR7, and laboratory in-line VIV coefficients. The in-line VIV fatigue in many instances governs the design of the riser since in-line VIV starts at a reduced velocity of about 1 whereas the threshold reduced velocity for cross flow VIV is about 4. The methodology can treat sheared currents on the basis of the cross flow VIV modeling in SHEAR7. Through the SHEAR7 modeling, the methodology removes conservatism implicit in the present ad hoc procedures for calculating riser in-line VIV response on the basis of the DNV-RP-F105 code. The reduction in conservatism is due to accounting properly for the power-in region in the VIV excitation, the hydrodynamic damping, and competing modal excitation (multiple mode response). The inline VIV coefficients have been derived from laboratory tests at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The paper presents the in-line VIV coefficients, and examples to demonstrate the methodology for riser in sheared currents. The coefficients derived from the NTNU tests are functions of both the in-line VIV response amplitude and the reduced velocity. The coefficients presented in the paper are scaled test coefficients. The scaling of the NTNU coefficients assures that the methodology calculates in-line VIV amplitudes that are consistent with the response amplitudes in DNV-RP-F105 for the case of a simply supported riser in uniform current. This DNV code, although written for pipelines, has been extended to risers in sheared currents on the basis of conservative approaches.