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Engineering & Construction
Design of FPSO Piles Against Storm Loading
This article investigates a particular but critical aspect of FPSO technology, i.e. anchoring the
FPSO to the seafloor, to resist the loads caused by wind, waves and currents. In particular,
design aspects of driven pile anchor are investigated.
The Energy Challenge, Deepwater Oil
Exploration and the FPSO
It is predicted that the world will need almost 60% more energy in
2030 than in 2002, and fossil fuels will still meet most of this need
(source: IEA, 2005). We shall still depend on petroleum for 90% of our
transport needs including aviation, land and sea transport.
Hydrocarbons will also be used for agriculture, for electricity
generation and for the feedstock of the chemical industry. A prime
reason for this enhanced energy demand is the economic growth of
developing countries such as China and India. Meeting this energy
need is one of the greatest engineering challenges of the next
decades. Though research on alternative sources of sustainable energy
such as wind, wave and solar power are continuing, specific
challenges in the oil and gas exploration areas need to be addressed,
as these will still be a major source of energy.
Much of the worlds oil and gas comes from offshore locations such
as the North Sea, Middle East, Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and West
Africa. Offshore oil and gas production started with platforms
consisting of fixed structures resting on the seabed. Over the years,
these have evolved into sophisticated modern steel or concrete
structures, which may be located in deep, hostile waters. These fixed
structures are typically suitable for water depths up to about 300m,
but the tallest fixed platform is Shells Bullwinkle structure, located in
412m of water in the GOM.
The depletion of oil and gas resources in shallow water, coupled with
the increase in energy demand, has forced the petroleum industry to
move into deeper water. Today it is common to operate in water
depths of more than 1300m. Shells Na Kika platform operates in
1920m of water depth in the GOM and plans are underway to exploit
resources in more than 3000m of water.
Subhamoy Bhattacharya is a Departmental Lecturer in
Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. He is
also a Junior Research Fellow of Somerville College. His
research interests are civil engineering dynamics with
emphasis on earthquake engineering and offshore
foundations. Before joining the University of Oxford, Dr
Bhattacharya was a staff engineer at Fugro Limited (UK)
and was involved in various offshore projects such as the
deep water Gunashli (BPs Azeri Chirag and Gunashli
Project), Judy Platform. In 2004, he was appointed 21st
Century Centre of Excellence fellow at the Centre for
Urban Earthquake Engineering (CUEE) at the Tokyo
Institute of Technology. Dr Bhattacharya obtained his
doctorate from the University of Cambridge.
50
a report by
Subhamoy Bhattacharya
Departmental Lecturer Engineering Science, University of Oxford
The lateral extent of oil and gas in deepwater reserves is often much
larger than that in shallow water, and the use of fixed structures in
such deep water is often impractical, not only due to the areal
extent, but also to the large water depth, unfavourable sea
conditions and economic constraints. Floating production systems
(FPS) are therefore becoming the preferred choice for deepwater. An
FPS is essentially a floating oil rig, anchored to the seabed,
containing all the equipment associated with a fixed installation. A
floating, production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) is a
particular type of production system where the oil produced can be
stored temporarily on the vessel, before it is discharged into tankers
for transportation to a refinery.
From the sustainability point of view, the FPSO system has benefits, as
it is quite easy to move it to a new location when the reserves in a
particular field reach a commercially unprofitable level. Current
predictions indicate that floating systems will continue to dominate the
future development plans of the petroleum industry.
It is not possible to extrapolate the shallow water technology into
deep waters. To meet the market demand, the petroleum industry is
developing and implementing new technologies based on limited
experience, as full-scale experimental verification is not always
possible. There is an urgent need to study these new technologies,
as the consequences of failure of such systems are enormous. A
failure, apart from causing financial loss, may also lead to
environmental hazards such as oil spills, which may endanger the sea
flora and fauna.
Driven Pile Anchor for an FPSO
This article deals with a particular type of anchoring system for an
FPSO. The anchoring system consists of few short to medium length
(typically 1525m) large diameter anchor piles, as shown in Figure 1.
These piles experience the greatest combination of loading during
the design storm, which represents the critical case for design.
Typically, the FPSO is supported by a number of anchor clusters, see
Figure 2. In the event of a failure of an anchor or an anchor line,
loads are transferred to other anchors, in a way that depends on the
stiffness of the anchor system. Thus, apart from predicting the
deflections of an anchor pile at working load, it is also necessary to
predict the ultimate failure load of an anchor.
Figure 3 shows loading on an FPSO pile. The loads are generally
slightly inclined; depending on the chain catenary path through
the soil which itself depends on the depth of the padeye. The
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lateral loads are due to storm, current and waves. The large cyclic Figure 1: Schematic Diagram of an FPSO and the Anchoring System
loads applied during the extreme storm/hurricane will tend to govern
the design.

Water depth
Cyclic Lateral Loads on Jacket Piles and FPSO Piles
The design of an FPSO anchor pile has not been codified in the same
way as jacket piles, nor has a single analysis method gained
acceptance amongst engineers. The design procedure for jacket piles
FPSO pile
under cyclic loading is often used to design anchor piles, probably Seabed

because of the good historical performance of piled jackets designed

using this procedure, which has been used for designing jacket piles Figure 2: A Schematic Diagram of the Anchoring System
under cyclic loading for over 30 years, with great success.
Anchor cluster C FPSO piles

It is important to remember that the parameters for the lateral

design of jacket piles are derived from lateral pile load tests on
small diameter piles. The controlling design loads for jacket piles
are usually the axial compressive and tensile loads, rather than the
cyclic lateral loads. In contrast, the axial loads on FPSO piles are
always tensile, and the lateral loads are much larger in comparison
to the axial load. Mooring lines

There are other differences between the two pile types, in that jacket
piles are longer, so degradation effects in the upper soil layers due to
cyclic loading are less severe. Jacket piles are also significantly restrained
from pile head rotation, whereas anchor piles are free-headed. The
issue of cyclic strength degradation of the soil is taken empirically in
jacket pile design. In contrast, this is one of the important Anchor cluster B
considerations in FPSO pile design. Anchor cluster A

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FPSO Piles Against Storm Loading

Figure 3: Loading on an FPSO Pile As the loading crosses its peak, i.e. in the second half of the first
cycle, the pile will experience a withdrawal of the lateral load, and
Vertical component (V) Pull due to waves, storm and current
will tend to come back to its original vertical position, shown as
Stage C. The original gap shown in Figure B will be partially or fully
One way cyclic loading closed, and a new gap may open in the front of the pile, as a result
H
of the plastic deformation of the soil. The width of this gap will
depend on the magnitude of the lateral load, but a gap of some size
Lateral component (H)
will be created in front of the pile. The gap will decrease the uplift
L resistance of the pile, and if the gap is deep enough, the pile could
even pull out vertically under to the vertical component of the
inclined pull. This could cause failure of the anchor and the lateral
load taken by this pile would then be transferred to the other piles.

Even if failure does not occur, the pile will experience less resistance
to movement in the next cycle of loading, as a result of the gap.
More pile deflection will be required to resist the same lateral load
(H0), and if the lateral load increases in any of the subsequent cycles,
say (H0+ H), the pile will deflect further. Soil at deeper depths will
Figure 4: Schematic Diagram of the Pile-Soil Interaction be progressively mobilised with cycling, to satisfy equilibrium of the
pile in the new deflected shape. Progressively, the pile-soil gap will
H=0 H = H0
Water in increase, and water will be forced at pressure in and out of the gap
formed by the moving pile, possibly scouring the soil in front of the
pile, in which the water content could increase. In clays, this action
could mean a reduction of undrained strength, and in sands there
could be liquefaction.

Criteria for Design

Based on the discussion presented on the above section, essential
(A) Just before the first cycle of loading (B) Pull at the peak of the first cycle of loading design criteria can be proposed. They are:
A gap may form and
water will get in
Water in H = H0 + H
H=0
1. The pile must have sufficient axial capacity to resist the range of
upwards cyclic loading applied over its design life.
A possibility of a
jetting action on
this clay 2. The anchor loading must not degrade the soil over the design life of
the anchor to such an extent that the extreme storm loads cannot
then be supported.

3. The anchor deflections should remain less than the permissible limit
(C) At the end of the first cycle of loading (D) Next cycle of loading over the anchor design life.

Thus, the two loading cases are significantly different, and it is not
possible to rely on standard jacket pile design methods, since these
might produce an over-conservative or unconservative design for
anchor piles. It is therefore considered essential to use some
procedures based on the fundamental principles of soil mechanics to
evaluate the performance of an anchor pile design which has been
based on standard empirical methods.
Failure Mechanisms of an FPSO Pile
Figure 4 shows an illustration of a pile-soil interaction during an
extreme storm/hurricane. Four stages are identified in the diagram.
Stage A represents the point just before the pile is laterally loaded,
thus represented by H=0. After the pile is laterally loaded (see Figure
3), it deflects along its length, shown as Stage B. A gap may form
near the seabed between the tension side of the pile and the soil.
The pile being submerged, the gap will be filled by water. At the final
deflected shape, the lateral load (H0) will be equal to the summation
of the soil reaction along the pile.
Issues in Design
The lateral pile-soil interaction is complex, since the load-deflection
behaviour is non-linear except at very small loads. The cyclic nature
of the loading makes it even more non-linear as the properties of the
soil change during repeated loading, when most soils will soften, as
excess pore pressures rise and the effective stresses in the soil
consequently decrease. In addition the bonding between soil grain
may decrease and the structure or fabric be lost. Any increase in
overall moisture content will add even more complexity to the
problem. It is also difficult to incorporate all these physical processes
into precise calculations. The issues in design can therefore be
summarised as:
1. All soils under moderate cyclic loads yield progressively, try to
compact, generate positive pore water pressure, and soften.
Collapsible soils such as loose sands can liquefy in the absence of
drainage. The frequency of cyclic loading condition is therefore
important, since the pore pressure generated by one full load cycle

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FPSO Piles Against Storm Loading

may only partially dissipate before the next load cycle.

2. For clays, not only strength but also stiffness degrades. The amount Are things getting tough?
of stiffness degradation is a function of strain level and the number
of cycles of loading. Extensive laboratory and field studies have Think LEWA
clarified many aspects of the behaviour of clays under such loading.
Stiffness degradation has been correlated with the plasticity index
(PI) of the soil. For a particular cyclic strain in the soil, more plastic
clays exhibit less degradation.

3. An FPSO anchor has to resist storms for many years, but there will
generally be rest periods for the soil between extreme loading
events. It may therefore be appropriate to incorporate set-up
effects in the lateral load-deflection behaviour often termed
as p-y behaviour.

4. Incorporation of the strain softening soil response in the p-y

formulation, i.e. incorporation of stiffness degradation of soils under
cyclic load.

5. As discussed in earlier section, (see Figure 4) the clay may have

Are you moving into deep water, with long
increased moisture content under the cyclic loading, and it may
umbilicals, high pressures? Or are you on-shore
therefore be that the strength used in the analysis should be
degraded to the remoulded or residual strength. far from electric power but with some sun?
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6. The layering of soil strata at the site may pose additional complexity. that very special problem you have?
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Cyclic loading caused by winds, waves or sea current exhibits a degree
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of irregularity both in magnitude and frequency. The issue in design is

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systems will continue to

dominate the future
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therefore to identify the loading that reflects a worst case scenario for Metering pumps
design. Figure 3 shows a typical FPSO pile. The pile is subjected to a Process diaphragm pumps
sustained lateral load on 1.0MN. It is predicted that the pile will
Chemical injection packages and skids
experience 20 cycles of severe storm loading, and the maximum lateral
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A geotechnical engineer will therefore have to ensure that the pile can and commissioning capabilities
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a logical step is to assess the soil condition surrounding the pile after 20 www.lewa.com
cycles, to determine the reduced strength of the soil. Element tests on
representative soil samples collected from the site or sophisticated
constitutive models are some of the options for evaluating the response
of FPSO piles are such storm loading.

IEA (2005) International Energy Statistics 2005: Key World Energy Statistics 2005, published by the LEWA GmbH, Ulmer Str. 10, 71229 Leonberg, Germany,
International Energy Agency, Paris. (www.iea.org) Phone: +49 7152 14-0, lewa@lewa.de