Workshop 05

Adding Piles to a Jacket Structure

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

February 11, 2013

Restore WS05_Splinter.wbpz
Splinter is now delivered as part of MAPDL. The technology can be
found on:
C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v145\ansys\apdl
and it requires an ASAS offshore license
Splinter documentation is included as part of the MAPDL Advanced
Analysis Guide on:
// Advanced Analysis Techniques Guide // 15. Soil-Pile-Structure
Analysis
Note that the Matrix and Spring methods are much quicker than
SPLINTER as they are linear.
The direct nonlinear curve definition is not as quick as the Matrix and
Spring methods, but is quicker than SPLINTER. Click to edit Master text styles

2011 ANSYS, Inc.

February 11, 2013

Launch Mechanical solver

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Drag Static Structural system onto cell A2. This action

will create system B

DC on cell B4 (Model) to launch Mechanical solver

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

February 11, 2013

Change the element formulation

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Expand Part [+] under Geometry branch. You will see

all 9 line bodies created earlier in DM

Ctrl-select all 9 line bodies and from the Details of

Multiple Selection window change the Model Type
to Pipe

This action changes the element type from

BEAM188/9 to PIPE288/9

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

February 11, 2013

Create named selections

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Click on Model(B4) and from the Menu Toolbar click

on Named Selection icon

A new Branch appears in the Outline Tree. Click on

the highlighted cell in the Details of Selection
window and then click on the vertex selection tool

Create three named selections, one for each vertex

(pile cap), and rename them PILE1, PILE2, PILE3

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

February 11, 2013

Define the ocean environment

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RC on Static Structural(B5)>Insert>Commands

Paste in the contents of WaveCommands.txt

Rename the command object to WaveCommands

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

February 11, 2013

Define the pile dimensions

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RC on Static Structural(B5)>Insert>Commands

Paste in the contents of PileCommands.txt

Rename the command object to PileCommands

From the Details of PileCommands window define

the following local input arguments:
ARG1=3 (# of piles)
ARG2=1 (pile dia.)
ARG3=3E-2 (pile thick.)
ARG4=27.76 (pile length)
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

February 11, 2013

Define the soil properties

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RC on Solution(B6)>Open Solver Files Directory>paste file_soil.txt in there.

This is the soil data file and it should be in the working directory!

RC on Static Structural(B5)>Insert>Commands. Rename the command object

to PileCal

Paste in the contents of the PileSolve.txt file

The MUDD command in file_soil.txt is used for defining a global seabed
which does not coincide with the global origin. This can be particularly useful
if the structure has been coded up with its origin at somewhere other than
the seabed and the user wishes to retain the same coordinate system.

If a particular soil requires a local scour to be modelled, both the P-Y and T-Z
data should start at a depth corresponding to the scour level.
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

February 11, 2013

Analysis Settings
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Click on Analysis Settings and define

Number of Steps = 5

In the Analysis Settings set Auto Time

Stepping to Off for all five load steps

Set Weak Springs to Off

Set the Step End Time for LS5 to 4.02s (T/2)

Define the rest of the step end times to be:

LS5=4.02

LS4=4.01
LS3=4
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LS2=3.99
LS1=3.98sec
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

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Soil-pile interaction results

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RC Solution>Insert>Deformation>Directional (Z axis)

RC Solution>Insert>Beam Tool

Click on PileCal branch and set the Step Selection Mode to All

Solve your analysis

The PILECALC command produces a list of data and useful

information. Open the jobname_node#.pout files with a text
editor to post-process
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Note: it is because of the nonlinear nature
of the soil that
SPLINTER carries out an iterative solution technique, each
iteration taking an assumed, or calculated, value for the soil
spring stiffness based on the previous iteration

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

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Filename_node#.pout
CART Shows the x, y, z coordinates of the pile; start and
end node

pile cap node

pile tip node

Total global soil reactions for element 577

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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

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Filename_node#.pout
If you post-process your analysis in MAPDL and plot
the elements you will see that each pile is modeled
by one element (MATRIX27). In the example below
you see elements 577, 578, and 579

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Filename_node#.pout
The filename_node#.pout file reports pile forces and
stresses along that element

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Further Reading
// Advanced Analysis Techniques Guide // 15. Soil-Pile-Structure
Analysis
Barltrop & Adams (1991) Dynamics of Fixed Marine Structures 3rd Ed.
Butterwoth-Heinmann
Angus & Moore (1982) Scour repair methods in the Southern North Sea.
Proc. 14th Annual OTC, Houston, TX, May 3-6

Damgaard & Palmer (2001) Pipeline stability on a mobile and liquefied

seabed: a discussion of magnitudes and engineering implications. Proc.
20th OMAE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jun 3-8
API Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing and Construction
fixed Offshore Platforms Working Stress Design (2000) 2A-WSD 21st
Ed.
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2011 ANSYS, Inc.

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