Advanced LS-DYNA Analysis to Simulate Fluid Drag, Vortex Shedding on Undersea Cables
Analysis
Objective
Dynamic Simulation of Autonomous Guided Heavy-Lifting Deep Sea Cables
This project leverages the ability of LS-DYNA to interactively incorporate user-defined loading to create a dynamic simulation that can numerically capture the fluid structure interaction (FSI) of the surrounding fluid without the expense of a full-on CFD simulation.
Advanced LS-DYNA Analysis to Simulate Fluid Drag, Vortex Shedding on Undersea Cables
We really don’t have any specialty as FEA consultants except how to figure out how to model complex systems. This project is no different and even its name is complex. What makes it unique is that we are simulating the dynamic movement of tensioned cables as they are whipped back and forth by sea currents during a heavy-lift operation. It is a common problem that we are solving for many off-shore operations where heavy cables are used to moor, lift, pump or tow objects. Figure 1 provides a graphic overview of various sub-sea cable uses. These cables see dynamic loads in operation and from fluid-structure-interaction (FSI) due to vortex shedding and added mass effects. Our work demonstrates a numerically elegant manner to simulate the FSI forces acting on large diameter high-modulus polyethylene rope (Spectra) during a deep-sea heavy lift operation.