CFD & VIV Symposium
 

Background

Exploration and production in water depths of 3,000 meters and beyond have brought the topic of vortex induced vibrations (VIV) into sharp relief. The design of many floating structures, risers and flowlines are governed by VIV issues. The complexity of the flow is such that current empirical design methods can not predict VIV amplitudes and the associated fatigue lives with confidence. The topic is currently under active research and development, both experimentally and analytically, with new information emerging at a high rate. This symposium attempts to report on the latest developments related to VIV physics and modeling for offshore applications. There is also an opportunity to capitalize on the explosive growth in computing power to address VIV and many other hydrodynamic issues. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has become an integral part of the design processes in many areas, including the aerospace, automotive and chemical industries, but it has not yet been as widely embraced for use in the marine industry.  This is especially true in the offshore sector that must contend with such things as massively separated flows, extremely high Reynolds numbers and wave breaking phenomena.  CFD can bring extraordinary insight into such complex, viscous flows that can not be seen or modeled in the laboratory. CFD does introduce new challenges that must be resolved if we are to make its power truly accessible to the offshore engineer. The symposium therefore focuses on the application of CFD to offshore problems, including VIV and the modeling of all manner of free surface problems.

Symposium Coordinator: