Finite-element modeling of offshore pipeline lateral buckling

The accurate prediction of lateral buckling is crucial for offshore pipelines that are subjected to high temperature and internal pressure. As a challenging topic, modeling pipeline buckling involves geometric nonlinearity and complex pipe-soil interaction. This paper introduces a simple finite element modeling approach to simulate the pipeline lateral buckle behavior. After validation against established knowledge, a variety of parametric analyses were systematically performed to investigate the effects of out-of-straightness, seabed friction factor, elastic slip, internal pressure, and initial stress. This study aims to provide a practical numerical approach for pipeline buckling and conveys a better understanding of the key parameters that must be considered when modeling the pipeline buckling problem.