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Project Number 362
Date of Summary September 9, 2005
Subject Deep Water Anchor Reliability
Performing Activity Texas A&M University, Offshore Technology Research Center (OTRC)
Principal Investigator Murff, Gilbert, Olson, Rauch, Tassoulas, Aubeny
Contracting Agency Minerals Management Service
Estimated Completion Completed
Description The goal of this project is to establish a comprehensive research program on deep water anchors with applications to drilling and production operations. The work has three objectives;
1) Determine currently available, best practices for analysis and design of suction cassion anchors (SCAs) and vertically loaded anchors (VLAs), including drag embedment anchors (DEAs) and suction embedded plate anchors (SEPLAs);
2) Characterize deep water environments and site investigations strategies;
3) Effect significant improvements in the accuracy and precision of installation and capacity predictions for SCAs and VLAs through studies.
Progress The lab test was designed for bench-scale modeling and an API project was used to collect and document data from sites.

The following results were achieved: a workshop was held on suction cassion design with 35 participants, model was developed to handle more realistic loading conditions, a 3-D model was built to include combined loading and to better understand the effects of installation on capacity. This study will be used to help design future SCA and VLA guidelines for API Recommended Practices.

Reports
AA1 (15 pages) File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) . Gharbawy, Sherif Lotfy El, Suction Caissons: Finite Element Modeling, The Pullout Capacity of Suction Caisson Foundation, Offshore Technology Research Center, National Science Foundation Grant ECD - 8721512, February 2000.
AA2 (12 pages) File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) .

Suction Caissons: Seafloor Characterization for Deepwater Foundation Systems, Robert Gilbert and Shadi Najjar.
3 (20 pages) File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) .

Suction Caissons & Vertically Loaded Anchors: Design Analysis Methods
4 (15 pages) File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) .

Suction Caissons: Finite Element Modeling
5 (12 pages) File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) .

Suction Caissons: Model Tests
6 (40 pages) File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) .\

Najjar, Shadi. Gilbert, Robert. "Suctions Caissons: Seafloor Characterization for Deepwater Foundation Systems." University of Texas, June 2006.
7 (40 pages) File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) . Suction Caissons & Vertically Loaded Anchors: Design Analysis Methods – Final Report. Charles Aubeny and Don Murff, Texas A&M University, December, 2005.
8 (18 pages) File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) . Suction Caissons : Finite Element Modeling – Final Report. Roy Olson, Robert B. Gilbert, John Tassoulas, The University of Texas at Austin, Charles Aubeny and Don Murff, Texas A&M University, December, 2005.
9 (34 pages) File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) . Suction Caissons: Model Tests – Final Report. Roy Olson, Robert B. Gilbert The University of Texas at Austin, December, 2005.

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Last Updated: 07/23/2008, 08:02 AM