Seabed ploughing: modelling for infrastructure installation
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Engineering
Abstract
Soil ploughing, an activity carried out by man for thousands of years for agriculture, is now used at a much larger scale on the seabed to connect offshore energy production and generation devices to the supply network. In the next 50 years many more of these offshore devices (wind, wave, current and oil & gas) will be installed, meaning that considerably more seabed ploughing will be undertaken. However, we do not possess the same level of understanding of the mechanical and hydraulic processes associated with soil ploughing as we have developed for other soil-structure interaction problems. This means that ploughing schemes and equipment have to be designed on the basis of semi-empirical and conservative approaches, leading to financial uncertainty. In this project, new computational methods will be applied to the simulation of seabed ploughing to provide better estimates of key parameters such as the towing force and speed of ploughing in a given seabed deposit along with insights into plough stability. Given the likely ploughing activity in the next 20-50 years in UK waters and elsewhere, we expect that this new predictive approach will result in major savings for industry.
Planned Impact
Beyond academia this research project will lead to economic and environmental impacts.
Cheaper installation costs:
(a) the key advance in this project will be provision of a numerical method to allow economic design of cable and pipeline ploughing projects where there is none of sufficient accuracy at present. This will lead to reductions in the costs of these operations and since this is a highly competitive industry, these cost reductions will be passed on to clients, who are major energy companies and government bodies.
(b) The cost of delivering offshore wind energy projects and in the future, marine energy projects will be reduced, as cabling of these installations will be cheaper.
(c) The new tool will also allow cabling contractors to choose routing with more confidence, allow cabling in areas of the seabed where perhaps they would be less willing to work in due to a lack of previous cabling projects.
(d) There are many cases where offshore pipeline laying projects incur huge additional costs because of an inability of the ploughing operation to achieve the correct depth, and the only solution is costly rock-dumping, e.g. the Breagh development in Canada which cost £566m compared to an expected £485m, www.sterling-resources.com/news/2012/nr0068.html
The project work indirectly supports environmental goals for renewable energy sources, making offshore projects more feasible, but there are many other environmental benefits, e.g.
Hazard Avoidance:
(a) The tool can be used not just for ploughing predictions but also to predict the scouring behaviour of icebergs (which are a hazard for shallow cabling in seabeds).
(b) Shallow burial of pipelines is also cited as a potential factor in various oil pipeline leaks which have occurred, e.g.
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/8698916/Shell-battles-to-stem-North-Sea-oil-leak.html
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18540318
The project will also develop the skills of two Post-Doctoral Research Assistants in experimental geotechnics and computational geotechnics respectively.
We will also disseminate our findings to the general public by employing local communications expertise to design and disseminate press releases targeting publications deemed most likely to reach the broad general public. These will communicate our excitement about our research and why our work is necessary to achieve the above-stated beneficial goals.
Cheaper installation costs:
(a) the key advance in this project will be provision of a numerical method to allow economic design of cable and pipeline ploughing projects where there is none of sufficient accuracy at present. This will lead to reductions in the costs of these operations and since this is a highly competitive industry, these cost reductions will be passed on to clients, who are major energy companies and government bodies.
(b) The cost of delivering offshore wind energy projects and in the future, marine energy projects will be reduced, as cabling of these installations will be cheaper.
(c) The new tool will also allow cabling contractors to choose routing with more confidence, allow cabling in areas of the seabed where perhaps they would be less willing to work in due to a lack of previous cabling projects.
(d) There are many cases where offshore pipeline laying projects incur huge additional costs because of an inability of the ploughing operation to achieve the correct depth, and the only solution is costly rock-dumping, e.g. the Breagh development in Canada which cost £566m compared to an expected £485m, www.sterling-resources.com/news/2012/nr0068.html
The project work indirectly supports environmental goals for renewable energy sources, making offshore projects more feasible, but there are many other environmental benefits, e.g.
Hazard Avoidance:
(a) The tool can be used not just for ploughing predictions but also to predict the scouring behaviour of icebergs (which are a hazard for shallow cabling in seabeds).
(b) Shallow burial of pipelines is also cited as a potential factor in various oil pipeline leaks which have occurred, e.g.
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/8698916/Shell-battles-to-stem-North-Sea-oil-leak.html
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18540318
The project will also develop the skills of two Post-Doctoral Research Assistants in experimental geotechnics and computational geotechnics respectively.
We will also disseminate our findings to the general public by employing local communications expertise to design and disseminate press releases targeting publications deemed most likely to reach the broad general public. These will communicate our excitement about our research and why our work is necessary to achieve the above-stated beneficial goals.
Publications
Bing Y
(2019)
B-spline based boundary conditions in the material point method
in Computers & Structures
Bransby M
(2018)
The performance of pipeline ploughs traversing seabed slopes
in Ocean Engineering
Charlton T
(2017)
Gradient Elasto-plasticity with the Generalised Interpolation Material Point Method
in Procedia Engineering
Coombs W
(2018)
Overcoming volumetric locking in material point methods
in Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
Coombs W
(2020)
On Lagrangian mechanics and the implicit material point method for large deformation elasto-plasticity
in Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
Coombs W
(2020)
AMPLE: A Material Point Learning Environment
in Advances in Engineering Software
Cortis M
(2017)
Modelling Seabed Ploughing Using the Material Point Method
in Procedia Engineering
Description | The award has allowed the development of new improved analytical approaches for both cable and pipeline ploughing that has the potential to allow more accurate prediction of plough progress rates and stability of ploughs in granular materials. This has come through the development of new physical modelling infrastructure at both 1g and elevated g (geotechnical centrifuge testing) that has allowed efficient testing of ploughing analogues to deconvolute behaviour and the verification of existing scaling laws for 1g testing. This has shown that small scale 1g testing of ploughing models is appropriate if previously developed scaling laws are adopted which has not been previously verified. The main objective of the University of Dundee in this project was to develop high quality research testing infrastructure to generate high quality and detailed data sets for use by Durham University for their objective to develop a computational tool (i.e. software) to improve predictions of soil and machine behaviour in ploughing. This objective was met during this project and wider improvement of existing analytical models and insights into ploughing behaviour were developed through both physical and the computation tools developed. This project led to the development of a new computational technique for the modelling of geotechnical problems, including seabed ploughing. The project involved development of software tied to a major programme of experimental research (at Dundee University). Key advances were made in aspects of the modelling such as how to model boundary conditions properly, a surprisingly tricky area. It was not possible in the end to achieve the high-fidelity modelling we set out to achieve as the issues we met along the way were significant and required rigorous solutions. The method continues to be developed at Durham and was a key part of another project, on Screwpiles. |
Exploitation Route | The methods have been fully documented and software (AMPLE) has been made available to interested developers and users (see https://wmcoombs.github.io/) |
Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Construction Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology |
Description | Oceaneering Limited plough optimsation study |
Amount | £78,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Oceaneering |
Sector | Private |
Country | United States |
Start | 06/2019 |
End | 01/2020 |
Title | Open-source code for researcher development |
Description | AMPLE was developed to address the severe learning curve for researchers wishing to understand, and start using, the material point method. The software was developed at Durham University between 2014 and 2018 by Dr Will Coombs as a platform to test our new research ideas and understand the impact of adopting different material point variants. AMPLE was first released in January 2019 at the 2nd International Conference on the Material Point Method held at Cambridge University, UK. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Too early to measure. |
URL | https://wmcoombs.github.io/ |
Title | A CPT approach to cable plough performance prediction based upon centrifuge model testing - Measured Data |
Description | This dataset contains the measured data from the tests presented in the corresponding publication: 'Robinson, S., Brown, M., Matsui, H., Brennan, A., Augarde, C., Coombs, W. M., & Cortis, M. (2020). A CPT approach to cable plough performance prediction based upon centrifuge model testing. Canadian Geotechnical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2020-0366'. The paper can also be accessed at: https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/a-cpt-approach-to-cable-plough-performance-prediction-based-upon- The attached spreadsheet contains the measured Horizontal Displacement, Vertical Displacement, Tow Force and Plough Depth from each of the centrifuge tests. The tests are fully described in the associated paper. Each test is presented in an individual tab in the spreadsheet, and all data shown is at model scale. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | none |
URL | https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/a-cpt-approach-to-cable-plough-performance-prediction... |
Description | Visiting Industrial Researcher from the Taisei Corporation, Japan |
Organisation | Taisei Corporation |
Country | Japan |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Provision of research equipment and advanced physical modelling techniques to simulate offshore cable plough performance in a laboratory environment. Training of visiting researcher in advanced modelling techniques |
Collaborator Contribution | Financial support of visiting researcher |
Impact | Creating of a data set looking at cable plough perfroamcne modelling suring centrifuge testing as well as a study (data) on how plough share geometry affects plough performance. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Title | Open source code for researcher development |
Description | AMPLE was developed to address the severe learning curve for researchers wishing to understand, and start using, the material point method. The software was developed at Durham University between 2014 and 2018 by Dr Will Coombs as a platform to test our new research ideas and understand the impact of adopting different material point variants. AMPLE was first released in January 2019 at the 2nd International Conference on the Material Point Method held at Cambridge University, UK. |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | Too early to measure |
URL | https://wmcoombs.github.io/ |
Description | British Drilling Association (BDA) Technical session:solutions for the Future of Geotechnical Engineering: New CPT correlations for novel offshore renewable energy installations |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | British Drilling Association (BDA) Technical session:solutions for the Future of Geotechnical Engineering: New CPT correlations for novel offshore renewable energy installations. Part of the British Drilling Associations regional travelling programme to update the industry on the latest developments and innovations. Presentation to 50 people consisting of geotechnical consultants and contractors. Sparked questions and discussions afterwards. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Cathie Associates, Newcastle: Invited presentation, with link to French and Belgium offices on "the advantages and disadvantages of physical modelling |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation on the benefits of physical modelling for supporting research and indsutrial projects. 15 practicing engineers attended or viewed online which sparked questions and discussion. This has also lled to further research collaboration and the recomendation of University of Dundee facilities to simulate real industrial problems. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | DeepOcean, Darlington: Invited lunch and learn speaker on Physical modelling of seabed ploughing for cable and pipeline installation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | DeepOcean, Darlington: Invited lunch and learn speaker on Physical modelling of seabed ploughing for cable and pipeline installation. Showing all staff involved in the company a summary of the research undertaken on cable and pipeline ploughing undertaken and the developments and improvements made in understanding plough behaviour and design. 40 Staff members attended. This sparked questions and dsicussion afterwards and the potential for related future research to be discussed in detail at alater date. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | ETH Zurich, Institut für Geotechnik, Invited colloquium speaker, Offshore plough modelling |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | 10 Postgraduate students attended research talk on the physical modelling of offshore ploughs and methods of predictiong tow forces and advance rates and research that has been doen to improve these predictions. This sparked questions and discussion afterwards and some existting publications were requested after the event. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Fugro Geoconsulting, Brussels Belgium: Invited presentation to design team on updates to offshore ploughing prediction models |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Fugro Geoconsulting, Brussels Belgium: Invited presentation to design team on updates to offshore ploughing prediction models. Updating international consultant on recent advances in pipeline and cable plough performance prediction models. Sparked discussion and questions and sharing of publications after the event. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | ICONHIC2019, Greece: Invited Theme lecturer. Geohazards prevention and mitigation, The influence of offshore geohazards and soil conditions on infrastructure installation approaches. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Invited themed lecture given to industry and academic experts and insurers interested in offshore geohazards. The presentation generated questions and discussion and requestes for further information and publications. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://iconhic.com/2019/ |
Description | IET's First Lego Dundee University leg |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | University of Dundee hosted a regional heat of the IET Lego Mindstorms international competition. The competition aims to encourage school pupils into science and engineering, by completing a range of competition tasks using programmable Lego robots built by the pupils. As a part of this event, a Civil Engineering stall was setup to provide activities for the pupils when they were not competing and over lunchtime. The aim of the stall was to: • Provide pupils with an understanding of what civil engineering is • Raise pupils interest in Civil Engineering in a fun and engaging way • Highlight the importance of Civil Engineering in fields such as renewable energy, infrastructure and earthquake resilience The display included Lego models of offshore wind turbines and seabed cable ploughs, posters of Civil Engineering topics and leaflets with further information on how to pursue engineering as a career path for those pupils interested. Practical activities were available for the students focussed on EPSRC funded projects at the University of Dundee: • Screw piles: Pupils were able to test Lego models of both straight shafted and screw piles embedded in sand and compare the differences in pullout force • Seabed ploughing: Pupils were able to watch interactive videos of the seabed ploughing process and interact with model Lego cable ploughs • Earthquake liquefaction: Students were able to design and make their own foundations for a Lego model house and compare how it coped with earthquakes using a miniature shaking table. 100 school pupils visited the stall during the day, with the majority of pupils undertaking all of the activities listed above. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://www.dundee.ac.uk/scienceengineering/news/2016/article/first-lego-league-takes-place-at-unive... |
Description | UPC Barcelona, Geotechnical Seminar series: Invited presentation to the UPC Barcelona Geotechnics Research Group on Physical modelling of offshore ploughing operations. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | UPC Barcelona, Geotechnical Seminar series: Invited presentation to the UPC Barcelona Geotechnics Research Group on Physical modelling of offshore ploughing operations. Attended by a mixed audience of 30 people made up of senior academics, post graduate and undergraduate students. Sparked questions and discussion and identified as a potential are for future research collaboration with potential for numerical modelling. Request for paers after event. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | University of Sheffield Colloqium series on Mechanics and Infrastructure research |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | 60 post graduate ad undergraduate students attended an invited presentation at the University of Sheffield Engineering School on Physical Modelling for Offshore Energy Infrastructure Deployment which sparked questions and discussion afterwards and raised awareness of the use of physcial modelling and interesting research areas for renewable energy research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |