Managing Flow Induced Vibration in Subsea Jumpers

Certain subsea jumper design features coupled with operating conditions can lead to Flow Induced Vibration (FIV) of subsea jumpers. Excessive FIV can result in accumulation of allowable fatigue damage prior to the end of jumper service life. For this reason, an extensive FIV management program was instated for a large development in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) where FIV had been observed. The program consisted of in-situ measurement, modeling and analysis. Selected well and flowline jumpers were outfitted with subsea instrumentation for dedicated vibration testing. Finite Element (FE) models were developed for each jumper and refined to match the dynamic properties extracted from the measured data. Fatigue analysis was then carried out using the refined FE model and measured response data. If warranted by the analysis results, action was taken to mitigate the deleterious effects of FIV. Details on modeling and data analysis were published in [5]. Herein, we focus on the overall findings and lessons learned over the duration of the program. The following topics from the program are discussed in detail: 1. In-situ vibration measurement 2. Overall vibration trends with flow rate and lack of correlation of FIV to flow intensity (rho-v-squared); 3. Vibration and fatigue performance of flowline jumpers vs. well jumpers 4. Fatigue analysis conservatism Reliance on screening calculations or predictive FE analysis could lead to overly conservative operational limits or a high degree of fatigue life uncertainty in conditions vulnerable to FIV. It is proposed that in-situ vibration measurements followed by analysis of the measured data in alignment with operating conditions is the best practice to obtain a realistic understanding of subsea jumper integrity to ensure safe and reliable operation of the subsea system. The findings from the FIV management program provide valuable insight for the subsea industry, particularly in the areas of integrity management of in-service subsea jumpers; in-situ instrumentation and vibration measurements and limitations associated with predictive analysis of jumper FIV. If learnings, such as those discussed here, are fed back into design, analysis and monitoring guidelines for subsea equipment, the understanding and management of FIV could be dramatically enhanced compared to the current industry practice.