An experimental study on vortex-induced vibration suppression for submarine multispan pipelines

To ensure structural safety, it is necessary to reduce the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of free-span pipelines in offshore engineering applications. In this study, an experimental investigation on VIV suppression for submarine multispan pipelines was conducted. The VIV response was suppressed by attaching helical strakes to the pipeline. By comparing the vibration response of a smooth multispan pipeline with that of a pipeline with an installed suppression device, the suppression effect of the helical strakes was explored. The coverage of the helical strakes was changed, and differences in the VIV suppression effects were observed in the experiment. The helical strakes effectively suppressed VIV of the multispan pipeline, and the maximum suppression efficiency exceeded 90%. The inhibition effect increased with increasing strake coverage. Furthermore, the burial depth of the pipeline was found to influence the VIV suppression effect.