Proceedings of the Ninth (1999) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference

Brest, France, May 30-June 4, 1999

Copyright 1999 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers
ISBN 1-880653-39-7 (Set); ISBN 1-880653-41-9 (Vol. II); ISSN 1098-6189 (Set)

Implementation of Elastoplastic Material Laws in Dynamic Riser Analysis

with Applications to Reeled Pipes
Daniel A verbuch, Jean-Michel Heurtier and Vu-Hieu Nguyen
Institut Fran~ais du P6trole
Rueil-Malmaison, France

when dealing with laying and fabrication processes that involve

plastic deformation of the pipe material and hence create residual
stresses, such as in reeled pipes.
This paper is therefore devoted to the implementation of non linear
material laws in the software DEEPLINES TM, and its consequence on
the analysis of rigid risers. It points out the possibility, in some cases,
to accept plastic deformations occurring during the first cycles of the
pipe lifetime.
The theoretical basis of the work is firstly presented within the
framework of a large displacement analysis, including materials
models with kinematic linear and non linear hardening, that allow a
representation of both Bauschinger effect and material ratchetting.
For a given configuration of Steel Catenary Riser, the response of the
structure is studied, by comparing the evolution of internal forces and
plastic strains in a riser submitted to different wave amplitudes, for
reeled and virgin pipes (with and without initial residual stresses). For
reeled pipes, residual stresses are firstly estimated using a simplified
description of the reeling process, and subsequently introduced into
the model.

ABSTRACT
A new numerical tool, called DEEPLINES TM, has been developed by
IFP and Principia RD to perform dynamic analyses of Floating
Production Systems. This Finite-Element program may either deal
with flexible risers, rigid risers, umbilicals and mooring lines
individually or take into account the coupled behaviour of these
connections and their floating support.
For the analysis of rigid risers, the implementation of elastoplastic
material laws is presented in this paper. As an illustration, the case of
reeled pipes is examined through a preliminary calculation of residual
stresses due to the reeling process. Catenary configurations are then
subsequently calculated using the results of the previous calculations,
and comparisons are made between the response of classical and
reeled pipes.
Results show that according to the loading amplitude, residual
stresses have an initial influence on the structure behaviour, but this
influence may vanish after several loading cycles. Situations are then
shown where shakedown states are obtained, so that the behaviour of
the pipe would remain fully elastic during the continuation of the
loading cycles. This work therefore provides a design tool for a
dynamic riser analysis in the elastoplastic range, which could be used
to evaluate the behaviour of risers submitted to accidental loads
(during installation, for instance). Results also show the limited
influence of the reeling process for Steel Catenary Risers applications
of reeled pipes, provided the fatigue behaviour is taken into account.

MATERIAL MODELLING
LARGE ROTATION FORMULATION
Within the theoretical framework of beam theory in large
displacements and large rotations, the definition of a material law has
to be done with great care, since problems of objectivity of the stress
and strain variables may occur. For the elastic material behaviour, this
problem has been studied and solved, by many authors (Simo, 1985).
This is not as easy in the case of elastoplastic materials, since
plasticity may create anisotropy in the material behaviour. The
problem of large rotations then has to be treated in order to keep track
of preferential directions induced by the anisotropy. However, since it
is assumed that strains remain small in the pipe material, it then can
be established (Park and Lee, 1996) that a correct formulation of the
material law is obtained by replacing classical Cauchy stresses by the
Piola-Kirchhoff-2 tensor (see Eq. 1 and 2). Since strains are assumed
to remain small, the stress tensor then reduces to the representation of
the Cauchy stress in the rotated reference frame (see Eq. 2).

KEYWORDS
Steel Catenary Risers, Reeled pipes, Finite-Element, Dynamic
analysis, Shakedown states

I NTR O D U C T I O N
Dynamic riser analysis is frequently carried out using a geometric
non-linear Finite-Element formulation, but with linear material laws
only. With the current development of Steel Catenary Risers in the
deep water context, the possibility to model the elasto-plastic material
behaviour of steel pipes may be important. It is especially the case

272

-'

_f-l)

(1)

(2)

= R r erR = s

E, F, and R,

FINITE ELEMENT FORMULATION

The basic Finite Element model was developed to perform the static
and the dynamic analysis of flexible risers, rigid risers, umbilicals and
mooring lines. Each line is modelled by a series of nodes with up to
six degrees of freedom each (3 translations + 3 rotations) connected
together by different types of slender finite elements. Depending on
the lines characteristics, different finite elements are available and
may be mixed :

designating respectively the Lagrange strain tensor,

the displacement gradient, and rotation tensors. O" and

_ _ _

represent

_ _ _

the Cauchy and the Piola-Kirchhoff-2 stress tensors.

In the rest of the section the formulation of the material behaviour is

CABLE ELEMENT
The cable element behaves like a true catenary element (no bending
stiffness) under an uniformly distributed load (Peyrot and Goulois,
1979a ,1979b; Peyrot, 1980). It has no compression stiffness and is
generally dedicated to the modelling of mooring lines parts made of
chains.

described using classical notations (ie O" instead of O'). However,

_ _ _

_ _ _

one has to keep in mind that they refer to lagrangian representations.

MATERIAL LAW
In order to get a good description of the material behaviour, an
elastoplastic material behaviour with non-linear kinematic hardening
based on the work of (Lemaitre and Chaboche, 1994) has been chosen
and implemented. Plasticity is a J2 (Mises) type where the yield
criterion is written as follows:

[(o"-a'): ( o ' - a ' ) ] - ~-2~a'(~P)

f(a,a,~:)-

where O" is the stress tensor, 0;, K: and ~

BAR ELEMENT
The bar element is a straight elastic truss hinged at both ends. The bar
element is often used for to the modelling of mooring lines parts made
of ropes.

(3)

SPRING ELEMENT
The spring element may act on translations or rotations with a multilinear stiffness. This element often stands for special connection
systems.

being respectively the

back stress tensor, current elastic tensile limit and the cumulated
plastic strain. (.)' denotes the deviator of a tensor. The cumulated

BEAM ELEMENT
The beam element is particularly well suited to the study of flexible
risers, rigid risers and tethers (Bratu, 1984). This finite element may
undergo coupled traction, flexion and torsion in the frame of 3D large
displacements and rotations.
The mathematical model (Fargues, 1995) is based on the Mindlin
assumption. The stresses and the strains of the deformed
configuration ~ x are expressed in a total Lagrange formulation, that

plastic strain E p is defined as:

t

-~P - - I ~ / 2 ~ P ( T ) : ~ P ( T ) d T

(4)

o
. .

The rate formulation of the material law then writes"

elasticity."

& - A: ( ~ - ~ p )

flow rule."

E_p -- 7" 3f

(5-a)

is to say they are calculated in the undeformed configuration ~ :

co-

ordinate system. At each node, the independent unknowns are the

m

(5-b)

position and the rotation vectors (~'o, Ox ), bo.th functions of the arc

&r

length "s". Thanks to the Rodrigues formulation,

kinematic hardening rule."

~__.__ 2 C~p_ __ OISZ-~__p

rotation

(5-C)

m a t r i x R x which

defines

the

local

0x

gives the

reference

frame

( d x l , d x 2 , d x 3 ) at each node.

A and ~"p

are respectively the fourth order elasticity tensor and the

plastic strain tensor.

The internal force and moment in the undeformed configuration are

given by the integration of the Piola-Kirchhoff 2 stress tensor on the
beam section"

For a typical X60 steel grade, typical values of the material

parameters are

<

- f z ( e 3 )dS and
s:

E (MPa)
210000

~: (MPa)

C (MPa)

0(-)

280

56000

370

Table 1 - X60 material parameters

273

- f;*
s:

A g(~3 )dS

(6)

CASE STUDY
GEOMETRY AND LOADING DEFINITION
A case study corresponding to a SCR configuration in Brazil, with a
sea depth of 910 metres, has been studied. The data for the analysis
performed were the following:

Deformed configuration

o Riser :

Length

Outside
diameter

Wall
thickness

Material

Section
points
number

1319m

21,9cm

1, I 1cm

X 60

!
~lx1

Table 2 -Pipe definition

g2

Undeforrned configuration n~

o Environment :

Figure 1 - Finite E l e m e n t configurations

The beam section is then divided into n parts where np is the

integration points number chosen by the user. Each integration point
is located in the middle of the riser thickness :

depth
(m):

0.0

-160.

-380.

-850.

-910.

Velocity

1.03

0.67

0.59

0.51

0.0

(m/s):
Table 3 - C u r r e n t definition

The wave period was chosen equal to 12 seconds and the RAOs
chosen corresponded to a typical semi-submersible floating support
.Two different wave amplitudes of respectively 6 and 7 meters were
studied. For reeled pipes, the analyses presented here were performed
in the plane of reeling, but other analyses where the structure was
loaded in an other plane did not show large differences on the general
behaviour of the reeled pipe.

Bea~

,.,

points

~-7

910m

w i t h np - 4
Figure 2 - hztegration points definition
19.4 m

E = 210GPa
err = 9_80MPa
C = 56 C~a
0=370

This allows to evaluate numerically the global forces and moments

defined in (Eq. 6), and to compute the global stiffness matrix by
integration.

EQUATIONS OF MOTION :
The virtual work principle is used to express the equations of motion
with the contribution of each element. The internal efforts and the
constant external loads are taken into account in static analyses and
the system of equations is solved with a Newton-Raphson algorithm.
For dynamic analyses, the inertia terms are added and a direct
integration in the time domain is performed by using a Newmark
algorithm.

Figure 3 - S C R c o t ~ g u r a t i o n

MODELLING OF THE REELING PROCESS

Reeling is now a cost effective laying method that provides an
alternative to classical installation methods for rigid pipes. The main
advantage of the process is the reduction in offshore welding
operations and a lessened sensibility to weather variations. Reeling is
made possible by the high ductility of the pipe material that deforms
plastically. This process is proven not to alter the pipe resistance, but
however creates residual stresses that can have consequences on the
pipe design.

274

The reeling process is classically modelled as a combination of

bending sequences, that are applied to the pipe, and correspond to the
spooling of the pipe on the reel, and to the additional bending
occurring on the ramp and in the straightener. Such flexural loading
involve important strains (up to 2%) and therefore lead to the
plastification of the pipe material.

. . . - 2 . 5 0 ~ ..................................................................................................................................
i 2.00B+06

~. = !

" i!

,i

.........OOte
ot191,3

~ 1.5o~

3,10 5-

1.00EM)6

2 , 1 0 5-

5.00B+05
1,105-

v
~z
laJ
"5
0

///

///

0 , i 0 o_

/ /

_1,10 ~-

- 2 , 1 0 5-

tl fv~r?., fv~
u , I,.~/I_,-I'%)V 1

_,o

l lV o

l V ;oo

1:,o

~ ~ 5 -

Tnre (s)
Figure 5 - Time response of the structure. Virgin pipe-7 metres wave

/
/_.

.........................................................................................................................................................

_3,105-0.02

0.0

0.02

0.04

CURVATURE

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

(l/m)

,e

Figure 4 - Bending moment-curvature during reeling

1000000,

The pipe response (bending moment -curvature evolution can then be

obtained by DEEPLINES TM, and is represented in this particular case
on figure 4. For the present study, the last applied curvature
(straightener) has been chosen, so that the residual moment be zero,
for a zero curvature.
The plastification of the pipe material however creates residual
stresses in the section. The calculated residual stresses (and hardening
parameters) are then taken as a starting point of the dynamic
calculations when dealing with reeled pipes. In the present case,
residual stresses of up to 140 MPa were obtained.

0 9

0.0005

0.001

0.0015

0.002

0.C i)25

-5(X)0~ 1_

Strain
Figure 6 - Material response o f the structure. Virgin and reeled pipes
-7 metres wave

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

In order to analyse the behaviour of the structure after laying, the
response of the structure is calculated during the first ten periods of
the waves (two minutes). Results obtained for elements 13 and 19
situated in the upper part of the riser (see figure 5) are given. For
instance the evolution of the tension for both elements can be
observed in the virgin pipe on next graph, for a wave amplitude of 7
metres.
As can be seen on such graph, for this period, both finite elements are
submitted to an almost proportional loading, that stabilise in the last
periods. In the continuation, results are therefore given only for
element 19 (top of the riser).

275

curve), while plasticity occurs in the reeled pipe, because of residual

stresses due to reeling. In this case, a stress based design of the
structure would require to sum the residual stresses due to the reeling
to stresses obtained by elastic dynamic calculations. For instance, it
would require to increase in an important way the pipe thickness,
since plasticity starts to occur during the first loading cycle.

~---%00E-04-6.00E-04
5.00E-04
i
i

4.00E-04

r~
d

1.20E-'03 ...........................................................................................................................

3.00E-04
Virgin pipe[

1.00E-03

2.00E-04
8.00E-04

1.00E-04
I
I

/'~ t~t'~'l"7., t ~ t ~
k). k/k/l_5"r-k/V

6.00E-04

-i,..........,....._..~.~...=......
1 ~Ftl:2

__/

FtA

T~

4.00E-04

(s)

Figure 7- Variation of plastic strain. Virgin pipe- 7 metres wave

r----'

jm

r~

_5-Section Point 1

2.00E-04

- - - - Section Point 2
When observing for instance the evolution along time of the tension
in the pipe versus its axial strain (figure 6), one sees that for both
virgin and reeled pipes, plastic deformations occur in the structure.
Plasticity is obviously visualised by the non-linear structural response
of both virgin and rigid pipes, and by the evolution of plastic strain in
one of the section point of element 19 (figure 7). However, as it can be
seen on figure 6, plasticity occurs before in the reeled pipe, as a
consequence of residual stresses induced by the reeling process. In
both cases, the plastic deformation increases after each cycle, and it is
clear that both structures would perish in low-cycle fatigue after
several cycles.

0.00E+00
-20

1.50E+06 -

1 oo

20

40

60

80

100

120

-2.00E~0 ...........................................................................................................................

'I'.ne (s)
Figure 9- Variation of plastic strain. Reeled pipe- 6 metres wave

On the other hand, if elastoplastic calculations are performed during a

sufficient number of loading cycles, one sees that the response of the
structure stabilises, and that after several loading cycles, the
behaviour of the structure remains fully elastic. This phenomenon is
clearly visible on figure 9 where the plastic strains remain constant,
after 60 seconds of calculation. This corresponds to shakedown states
where the structure plasticity and residual stresses adapt to the
loading. This type of calculation results would therefore lead to think
that in this case, a purely stress based design would lead to very
conservative results. The same type of conclusions could also be
drawn in cases where the riser is submitted to accidental loading and
plastically deformed during its installation, for instance.

,-2=00E,,,06....
rt~

.i

) *

./ ...- ,,

+o6

CONCLUSIONS
Elastoplastic material laws for the analysis of rigid risers have been
implemented in the software DEEPLINES TM. This feature allows the
0.00E+00 / . ~ q / / q
I ....................W i t 7 pipe
I
analysis of structure where plasticity may be active such as reeled
!
pipes
or structure accidentally submitted to plastic deformation.
-5.0(}E-04 0.001~+00 5.00E-04 1.00E-03 1.50E-03 2.00~E-03
In a first application to reeled pipes, calculations have shown that in
some cases, the stress based design is not adapted, since it greatly
J.5..OOE+O5....L~.............................................................................................................................................
i
overestimates the influence of residual stresses induced by reeling. It
was proven that though plasticity could occur, the adaptation of the
Strain
structure to the loading would lead to shakedown states where the
Figure 8- Material response of the structure. Virgin and reeled pipes response of the pipe is fully elastic. This shows, in this case, the
6 metres wave
importance of performing dynamic analyses using elastoplastic
material laws, in order to obtain a less conservative design. It is then
suggested to observe the evolution of the plastic strains inside the
On the contrary, when looking at structural responses for a smaller
structure in order to see whether plasticity is still active or not, after
wave amplitude (6 metres), the behaviours are different (see figure 8).
several loading cycles.
The virgin pipe remains fully elastic (linear axial force versus strain
~;

~z"

. . . . . . . Reeled pipe

276

Additional calculations would however be interesting to perform on

different configurations and for different loading, in order to see if the
presented results are always valid.

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Karen Carr and Mike Bell from Coflexip
Stena Offshore Limited for information concerning the reeling
process on the CSO Apache. They are grateful to Denis Aubry and
Damien Durville from the Ecole Centrale de Paris for fruitful
discussions on the Finite Element model.

REFERENCES
Bratu C. and Narzul P. (1984). "Dynamic behaviour of flexible riser".
BOSS'84.
Fargues, (1995). "Moddlisation dynamique des risers p6troliers en
grands ddplacements". Thbse de Doctorat, Ecole Centrale de Paris,
France.
Lemaitre, J. and Chaboche J-L. (1994) "Mechanics of Solid
Materials". Cambridge University Press.
Park M.S. and Lee B. C. (1996), "Geometrically non-linear and
elastoplastic three-dimensional shear flexible beam element of VonMises type hardening material", Int. Jnal. Num. Methods Eng., Vol 40
pp 689-726.
Peyrot A. and Goulois (1979a). "Analysis of flexible transmission
lines". J.of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol.104, no.ST5, p.763779.
Peyrot A. and Goulois (1979b). "Analysis of cable structures". J. of
Computer and Structures, Vol.10, no.5, p.805-813.
Peyrot A. (1980). "Static and dynamics of offshore cable and flexible
pipe systems". Revue de l'lnstitut Francais du P~trole, Vol.35, no.5,
p.833-848.
Przemieniecky, (1968). "Theory of matrix structural analysis". Mc
Graw Hill.
Simo, J.C. (1985) "A finite strain beam formulation. The threedimensional dynamic problem. Part 1." Comp. Methods Appl. Mech.
Eng.", Vol. 49, pp 55-70

277