Modeling Suction Pile Lowering Through the Splash Zone

This paper describes a direct time domain modeling procedure for suction pile lowering through the splash zone. The paper specifically addresses pile lowering from a relatively small installation vessel with the pile oriented with its long axis nearly parallel to the water surface. The model consists of time domain simulation of the crane/wire/sling/pile system. This system is subjected to vessel motions at the crane tip, hydrodynamic loading on the pile, and pile flooding.The paper also describes the sensitivity of winch wire tension to seastate, lowering velocity and hydrodynamic model coefficients, and suction pile characteristics.Finally, a brief comparison is made between this model and others that have been proposed within the industry, some of which have been incorporated in design standards and guidelines such as DNV-RP-H103.Copyright © 2013 by ASME