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 ‘SCR Transfer 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’.
The Installation Stages tab is where you define the various stages in your analysis. In this example there are seven static installation stages. A tension criterion is required at the end of the winch cable connecting the SCR to ‘Lay Vessel(1)’. To capture the adjustments made during the criteria analysis in all subsequent stages, the Transfer Adjustments option is set to Yes for the first installation stage.
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)_Winch Cable(1) |
50 m |
3 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_Winch Cable(1) |
100 m |
3 |
Length of Winch Cable(1) |
200 m |
4 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_Winch Cable(1) |
150 m |
4 |
Length of Winch Cable(1) |
150 m |
5 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_Winch Cable(1) |
200m |
5 |
Length of Winch Cable(1) |
100 m |
6 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_Winch Cable(1) |
250m |
6 |
Length of Winch Cable(1) |
50 m |
7 |
Length of Pipeline(1)_Winch Cable(1) |
300 m |
7 |
Length of Winch Cable(1) |
10 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, a tension criterion is required at the end of the winch cable connecting the SCR to ‘Lay Vessel(1)’. The tension criterion is only applied in the first installation stage with adjustments transferred for subsequent stages as detailed in the table below. The other tolerance parameters are left to their defaults.
Table: Criteria Properties
Property |
Value |
Criteria |
Tension |
Component Name |
Pipeline(1)_Winch Cable(1) |
Location |
End |
Minimum Value |
1100 kN |
Maximum Value |
1101 kN |
Iterate On - Type |
Seabed Connection Point |
Iterate On - Name |
Seabed Connection |
Iterate On - Vector |
Global Y |
Tolerance – Max Iterations |
1000 |
Tolerance – Multi-Pass |
Yes |
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 |
Length 1 |
Length 2 |
Motion |
Winch Cable(1) |
DOF - 1 |
0 m |
0 m |
Motion |
Winch Cable(1) |
DOF - 2 |
0 m |
0 m |
Criteria |
Pipeline(1)_Winch Cable(1) |
Tension - End |
- |
- |
Criteria |
Winch Cable(1) |
Tension - End |
- |
- |
We are now ready to run the analysis. While the analysis is running we can observe the analysis progress and check for warnings or errors on the Progress tab.