ABSTRACT

When the SAFEBUCK JIP started research into the large displacement cyclic response of pipelines on very soft deep-water marine clays in 2002, it would not have been possible to predict how that research could now impact pipeline design, or how far the research test methods would develop and improve. From the beginning, this JIP pioneered the idea of small-scale lateral pipe-soil tests in a centrifuge, which is now established as a reliable evaluation method for new projects. Neither could the JIP have envisaged the development of a large-scale in-situ test rig called SMARTPIPE® (Hill & Jacob 2008), using the lessons learned from large-scale laboratory tests pioneered by SAFEBUCK.