The Analysis component is used to specify the various inputs for a PipeLay analysis. The Analysis component allows you to gather together a set of components of various types, such as pipelines, vessels, waves and so on, from all of those defined in a project file, and to perform various types of analyses using these components. In this example, the Analysis component is named ‘Structure Installation Analysis’. The following sections provide a description of the various inputs for the analysis.
The Properties tab allows you to specify the options that are to be applied to all analysis stages of a particular model. In this example the Model is selected as ‘Model’ and the Contact Modelling option is defined as Simple.
The Installation Stages tab is where you define the various stages in your analysis. In this example, there are seven static installation stages.
The Parameters tab allows you to specify which parameters you want to change during each analysis stage defined on the Installation Stages tab. A summary of the parameters changed in each stage of this example is provided in the table below.
Table: Summary of Parameter Changes
Stage Number |
Parameter |
Value |
2 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(1) |
600 m |
2 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(2) |
1200 m |
3 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(1) |
800 m |
3 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(2) |
1000 m |
4 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(1) |
1000 m |
4 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(2) |
800 m |
5 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(1) |
1200 m |
5 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(2) |
600 m |
6 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(1) |
1400 m |
6 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(2) |
400 m |
7 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(1) |
1600 m |
7 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_24’’ Pipe(2) |
200 m |
On the Criteria tab, you can specify installation criteria for each installation stage that is created in the Installation Stages tab. In this example, the same criteria are specified for each stage, as detailed in the tables below. The tolerance parameters are set to their defaults.
Table: Criteria Properties
Property |
Value |
Criteria |
Tip Separation |
Component Name |
Lay Vessel(1) |
Minimum Value |
0.4 m |
Maximum Value |
0.6 m |
Iterate On - Type |
Seabed Connection Point |
Iterate On - Name |
Seabed Connection |
Iterate On - Vector |
Global Y |
You can use the Summary Postprocessing tab to request output from various parameters at crucial locations throughout the installation process. In this example, a number of parameters are selected for summary postprocessing, as detailed in the table below.
Table: Summary Postprocessing
Type |
Component |
Parameter |
Criteria |
Lay Vessel(1) |
Tip separation |
Criteria |
Lay Vessel(1) |
Departure Angle |
Criteria |
Pipeline(1) |
Bending Strain - Sagbend |
Advanced |
Pipeline(1) |
Layback |
You are now ready to run the analysis. While the analysis is running, you can observe the analysis progress and check for warnings or errors on the Progress tab.