Experimental Investigation on Ship Anchor Impact on Subsea Pipelines Considering Seabed Flexibility Available to Purchase

Pipelines laid on the surface of seabed within areas of shipping movements become increasingly susceptible to risks stemming from anchor impact damages. The impact from ship anchor may lead to local deformation and fracture in the pipeline. Large-scale tests have been carried out to study the penetration depth of the anchor and the dent depth of the pipeline under the impact of a dropped anchor. This article describes the experimental study that was carried out to examine the effects from variations of soil type, pipeline embedment depth and anchor velocity regarding pipeline response. Results from the test show that the properties of soil above pipeline play an important role in impact energy dissipation, and the dent depth is sensitive to anchor velocity.