Comparison of SCR Field Response With Analytical Predictions

Design of deepwater risers involves the use of multiple conservative design parameters to account for the uncertainty in the understanding of the behavior of complex structures. As the oil industry moves into deeper and harsher waters, the design tolerances are getting stretched. Chevron has been monitoring the structural response of a deepwater Gulf of Mexico steel catenary riser (SCR) to improve the understanding of riser behavior and to evaluate the existing analysis and design methodologies against actual field measurements. The following paper presents a selected set of results from benchmark of SCR response in storm conditions against analytical predictions, based on industry standard methodologies. The predictions are based on a finite element analysis (FEA) modeling of the riser structure with empirically formulated models for hydrodynamics and soil-structure interaction. Predicted riser response in terms of accelerations and stresses along the length are compared against field measurements showing good overall agreement.