A review on the modeling of subsea lifting operations

• Published in: Ocean engineering 2023-01, Vol.268, p.113293, Article 113293
• Main Authors: de Andrade, Emerson Martins, Costa, Daniel de Oliveira, Fernandes, Antonio Carlos, Sales Junior, Joel Sena
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Marine operations; Subsea equipment installation; Subsea lifting operation; Subsea structure; Wave splash zone
• ISSN: 0029-8018; 1873-5258
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2022.113293

In the last decades, there has been a growing interest in the installation of heavy and complex shape subsea equipment, consequently, a detailed analysis of this process is required to provide cost-effective, safe, and feasible solutions. Here, we review the advancements in subsea installation modeling focusing on three stages of installation: (1) lowering through the wave splash zone, (2) structure fully submerged, and (3) structure near the seabed. To understand these various stages, a wide range of models have been proposed over time. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive summary of this body of literature. In the end, we discuss the assumptions for each phase, which shows up open challenges and possible directions for future work to improve the understanding and modeling of the subsea installation process. •The modeling of the main stages in subsea lifting operations is reviewed.•The main characteristics of the wave splash zone and fully submerged stages are presented.•The contribution of computational advances to more complex modeling becomes clear.•Discussion of challenges in modeling hydrodynamic and structural loads.•Open issues are identified and future research directions are proposed.