This work aims to provide further insight into the modeling aspects and influence of
some important parameters involved in the simulation of vibration of submerged
pipes, especially in relation to vibration-based structural health monitoring
(VB-SHM) techniques. Two widely used techniques for modeling submerged
pipelines, namely the “added mass” and “coupled acoustic-structural” approaches are
compared, and their limitations and advantages in the context of VB-SHM are
highlighted. Moreover, the paper also presents a comprehensive study of
the effect of operational variability on the accuracy of VB-SHM of offshore
pipelines. It is demonstrated that the geometric stiffness produced by the
operational variability (such as changes in the internal and external pressures of
pipelines) could variably alter the overall stiffness of such submerged bodies,
hence affecting their dynamic response. Depending on the pipe stiffness,
the imposed variations could significantly affect the accuracy of VB-SHM
trials.