Pipeline–soil–water interaction modelling for submarine landslide impact on suspended offshore pipelines

The submarine landslide is one of the major geohazards in deep-water oil and gas developments. The impacts of glide blocks or out-runner blocks, which carry the geotechnical properties of the parent soil mass before the landslide, on pipelines normal to the direction of slide, are investigated in this study. A computationally efficient numerical modelling technique is developed using a computational fluid dynamics approach, incorporating a strain-rate and strain-softening dependent model for the undrained shear strength of clay sediment, to simulate the lateral penetration of a pipe in a clay block. The role of water in the cavity and channel formed behind the pipe during the lateral penetration on drag force is successfully simulated. Numerical simulations for varying depths of the pipe explain the change in soil failure mechanisms in which the channel behind the pipe and berm play a significant role, especially at shallow depths. As the cavity behind the pipe may not be completely filled with soil, the limitations of smooth/rough and bonded/unbonded interface conditions, as used typically in pipe–soil interaction analysis, are discussed. Based on a comprehensive parametric study, calibrated against centrifuge test results, a set of empirical equations is proposed to calculate drag force for practical applications. The effects of inertia on drag force are examined.