Offshore Pile Tube Attachment for Cable Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing offshore platforms face challenges in attaching structures to driven piles due to the high acceleration forces exerted during pile driving, causing attachments to detach, which is critical for supporting cables, pipelines, and other infrastructure.
Innovation Solution
A method involving sliding a tube with a constant internal diameter over the driven pile, secured with a support piece and spacers, allowing for the attachment of infrastructure like cable guides and pipelines without exerting strong forces during assembly, and maintaining stability even in wave conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If attachments are fastened directly to driven piles, then the pile foundation can support infrastructure, but the high acceleration forces during pile driving cause attachments to detach
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the attachment structure into separate components: the tube is slid onto the pile first, and attachments are fastened to the tube afterward. This segmentation allows the pile to be driven without attachments that would detach, while still providing a stable base for infrastructure support.
Solution Approach 2:
The tube is slid onto the pile before the pile is driven into the seabed. This preliminary action protects the attachment structure from the high acceleration forces during driving, as the tube acts as a buffer between the pile and the attachments.
2Reliability
If attachments are designed to withstand high acceleration forces, then they remain attached during pile driving, but the construction cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the pile driving function from the attachment function, the system allows simple attachments to be used on the tube, rather than requiring complex attachments designed to withstand driving forces. The tube itself handles the mechanical stresses of pile driving.
Solution Approach 2:
The tube serves as an intermediary element between the driven pile and the attachments. It transfers the load from attachments to the pile while protecting attachments from the high acceleration forces during driving, eliminating the need for complex attachment designs.
3Ease of manufacture
If the tube inner diameter is made larger to facilitate sliding over the pile, then assembly becomes easier, but the structural stability and attachment security decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The tube has different properties at different locations: the upper portion has a larger diameter for easy sliding and attachment installation, while the lower portion near the seabed has a smaller diameter that provides structural stability and prevents the tube from detaching during pile driving.
Solution Approach 2:
The tube diameter parameter is varied along its length to optimize both assembly ease and structural stability. The diameter transitions from larger at the top to smaller at the bottom, combining the benefits of easy assembly with secure attachment and stability.
Data Source
AI summary
An offshore platform with at least one pile of a pile foundation with an outer wall having an external diameter and with a tube (8, 12) with an inner wall having an internal diameter which is greater than the external diameter, on the exterior of which attachments are arranged, and which is slid over the pile (2, 3) driven into the seabed (4), wherein at least one spacer (20) is provided between the outer wall of the pile (2, 3) and the inner wall of the tube (8, 12).