LAUSR

The steel lazy-wave riser (SLWR) is considered as an appropriate approach for deepwater riser installation due to its advantages in service performance. However, the introduction of buoyancy modules system brings about the great nonlinearity of lazy wave configuration in installation, especially during transfer process. This paper presents a comprehensive analytical model to analyze the behavior of SLWR during transfer process which is of great importance to the installation feasibility and analysis. Taking the elastic seabed and boundary-layer phenomenon into consideration, this analytical model is able to deal with the three different stages of the actual transfer process. The reliability of the proposed analytical model is verified and a typical SLWR transfer process analysis is conducted to investigate the riser configurations and some important mechanical parameters which exert influences on the riser’s performance. The proposed method provides a practical reference for the design and analysis of actual SLWR installation.