Probability Distribution of the Hull Motion and Mooring Line Tension of Two Floating Systems

The statistical and distribution characteristics of the responses of a floater and its mooring lines are essential in designing floating/mooring systems.In general,the dynamic responses of offshore structures obey a Gaussian distribution,assuming that the structural system,and sea loads are linear or weakly nonlinear.However,mooring systems and wave loads are considerably nonlinear,and the dynamic responses of hull/mooring systems are non-Gaussian.In this study,the dynamic responses of two types of floaters,semi-submersible and spar platforms,and their mooring lines are computed using coupled dynamic analysis in the time domain.Herein,the statistical characteristics and distributions of the hull motion and mooring line tension are discussed and compared.The statistical distributions of the dynamic responses have strong non-Gaussianity and are unreasonably fitted by a Gaussian distribution for the two floating and mooring systems.Then,the effects of water depth,wave parameters,and low-frequency and wave-frequency components on the non-Gaussianity of the hull motion,and mooring line tension are investigated and discussed.A comparison of the statistical distributions of the responses with various probability density functions,including the Gamma,Gaussian,General Extreme Value,Weibull,and Gaussian Mixture Model(GMM)distributions,shows that the GMM distribution is better than the others for characterizing the statistical distributions of the hull motion,and mooring line tension responses.Furthermore,the GMM distribution has the best accuracy of response prediction.

Design Curves for Mooring Lines of Turret Mooring Systems

This paper presents a series of design curves to aid in the selection of turret mooring systems for tankers based Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) systems. These curves are appropriate to water depths ranging from 100 m to 600 m. The curves can be used as a preliminary design tool, allowing the designer to quickly evaluate alternative mooring system configurations, including the number of mooring lines, the characteristics of chain and wire rope to be deployed and the. initial tension. With a knowledge of the total environmental force and vessel motion characteristics, the designer can determine the appropriate system for closer evaluation.

Investigation on Effects of Mooring Line Fractures and Connector Failures for A Hybrid Modular Floating Structure System

The present work reports a Hybrid Modular Floating Structure(HMFS)system with typical malfunction conditions.The effects of both fractured mooring lines and failed connectors on main hydrodynamic responses(mooring line tensions,module motions,connector loads and wave power production)of the HMFS system under typical sea con-ditions are comparatively investigated.The results indicate that the mooring tension distribution,certain module motions(surge,sway and yaw)and connector loads(Mz)are significantly influenced by mooring line fractures.The adjacent mooring line of the fractured line on the upstream side suffers the largest tension among the remaining mooring lines,and the case with two fractured mooring lines in the same group on the upstream side is the most dangerous among all cases of two-line failures in view of mooring line tensions,module motions and connector loads.There-fore,one emergency strategy with appropriate relaxation of a proper mooring line has been proposed and proved effective to reduce the risk of more progressive mooring line fractures.In addition,connector failures substantially affect certain module motions(heave and pitch),certain connector loads(Fz and My)and wave power production.The present work can be helpful and instructive for studies on malfunction conditions of modular floating structure(MFS)systems.

Static and Dynamic Analysis of Mooring Lines by Nonlinear Finite Element Method

This study has focused on developing numerical procedures for the static and dynamic nonlinear analysis of mooring lines. A geometrically nonlinear finite element method using isoparametric cable element with two nodes is briefly presented on the basis of the total Lagrangian formulation. The static and dynamic equilibrium equations of mooring lines are established. An incremental-iterative method is used to determine the initial static equilibrium state of cable systems under the action of self weights, buoyancy and current. Also the Newmark method is used for dynamic nonlinear analysis of ocean cables. Numerical examples are presented to validate the present numerical method, and examine the effect of various parameters.

Dynamic Analysis of Semi-Submersible Production Platform Under the Failure of Mooring Lines

This paper quantitatively studies the transient dynamic response of a semi-submersible production platform with the loss of one or several positioning mooring lines.A semi-submersible platform,production risers,and positioning mooring lines are all included in the numerical simulation.Increased motion of the semi-submersible platform,tension variation of the remaining mooring lines/risers and the risk of mooring line or riser clashing are all investigated through fully coupled time-domain analysis.Combined environmental loads are selected from irregular waves and the steady current varying from very rough to extreme sea conditions.Three dimension radiation/diffraction theories and Morison’s equation are applied to calculate first-order wave force and second-order mean drift force of floating semi-submersible platform.Nonlinear time-domain finite element methods are employed to analyze the behavior of mooring lines and risers.Results show that the failure of mooring lines seriously reduce the platform’s stability performance.The tension of the rest lines is also increased accordingly.Remaining lines which are closer to the failed lines will have larger tension increase to compensate.Line-Line distance provides practical information for the risk of clashing investigation.

An Investigation on Low Frequency Fatigue Damage of Mooring Lines Applied in a Semi-Submersible Platform

Assessing the fatigue life of mooring systems is important for deep water structures. In this paper, a comprehensive fatigue analysis is conducted on the mooring lines applied in a semi-submersible platform with special focus on the low frequency(LF) fatigue damage. Several influential factors, including water depth, wave spectral parameters, and riser system, are considered. Numerical simulation of a semi-submersible platform with the mooring/riser system is executed under different conditions, and the fatigue damage of mooring lines is assessed by using the time domain analysis method as a benchmark. The effects of these factors on the mooring line tension and the fatigue damage are investigated and discussed in detail. Research results indicate that the LF fatigue damage only accounts for a very small portion of the total damage, although the LF components dominate the global motion response and the mooring line tension of the semi-submersible platform. However, it is demonstrated that the LF fatigue damage is clearly affected by the influential factors. The increase in water depth and spectral peak periods, and the existence of risers can weaken the contribution of the LF components to the mooring line fatigue damage, while the fatigue damage due to the LF components increases with the increase of significant wave height.

Research on the Viscoelasticity of Polyester Mooring Lines Using the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation

The taut mooring system using synthetic fiber ropes has overcome the shortcomings such as the large self-weight of the mooring lines and provides better mooring performance for the floating structures.The polyester rope has attracted much attention among numerous synthetic fiber rope materials due to its lightweight,low price,corrosion resistance,and high strength.Thus,the mooring characteristics of it are worth studying.Polyester mooring lines are flexible in deep water,when a marine structure is moored by them,the geometric nonlinearity such as large displacement,large stretch,and large bending deformation,and the material nonlinearity like viscoelastic of the polyester ropes become complex integrated problems to be studied.Considering the nonlinear phenomenon,the simulation and calculation of a polyester line were carried out by the absolute nodal coordinate formulation(ANCF)in this paper since the ANCF method has advantages in dealing with the significant deformation problems of the flexible structures.In addition,a chain mooring line was also simulated for comparison,and the results show that the polyester ropes reduce the self-weight of the mooring lines and provide sufficient mooring strength at the same time,and the nonlinear phenomenon of the polyester ropes is different from that of the chain mooring lines.

Investigation of Motion of Two Hinged Bodies Moored by Mooring Lines in Waves

In this paper, the motions are studied of a multi-body which is composed of two plates hinged together and moored by eight mooring lines in regular waves. The experimental results are compared with computational results. The linear potential theory and the perturbation method are combined to study this complicated system. The former is used to calculate the wave forces acting on the plates and the motion responses of them, while the latter is used to describe the dynamic character of the eight mooring lines coupled with the two hinged plates. Some response results of each plate are presented and comparisons between calculated results and experimental data are given. All the calculations are confined to regular beam waves.

Snap Tension in Mooring Lines of Deepwater Platform

Based on the theory of impact dynamics, the motion equations for a mooring line-floating body system before and after impact loading are established with consideration of the viscoelastic property of mooring lines. The factors that influence the taut-slack conditions of a mooring system are analyzed through classifying the taut-slack regions, which are defined by non-dimensional ratios of displacement, frequency, and damping of the system. The mooring system of Jip spar platform is analyzed, and the snap tension characteristics of mooring lines are given. The factors that influence the maximum tension in mooring lines, including the mass of the floating body, length of mooring lines, frequency and amplitude of external excitation, and pretension in mooting lines, are also analyzed through computing the dynamic response of system and parametric study. It is shown that the maximum tension increases with the increasing mass of the floating body, external excitation and pretension. Also, it is found that the influence of the non-dimensional ratio of damping increases with the increase of the pretension in mooring lines.

Mooring Model Experiment and Mooring Line Force Calculation

Mooring model experiment and mooring line tension determination are of significance to the design of mooring systems and berthing structures. This paper mainly involves: (a) description and analysis of a mooring model experiment; (b) derivation of static equilibrium equations for a moored ship subjected to wind, current and waves; (c) solution of mooring equations with the Monte Carlo method; (d) qualitative analysis of effects of pier piles on mooring line forces. Special emphasis is placed on the derivation of static equilibrium equations, solution method and the mooring model experiment.

Investigation on the Dynamic Responses of a Truss Spar Platform for Different Mooring Line Groups

The dynamic responses of any floating platform arc dependent on the mass, stiffness and damping characteristics of the body as well as mooring system. Therefore, it is very essential to study the effect of individual contributions to the system that can finally help to economise their cost. This paper focuses on the effect of mooring stiffness on the responses of a truss spar platform, obtained by different grouping of lines. The study is part of our present researches on mooring systems which include the effect of line pretension, diameter and azimuth angles. The platform is modelled as a rigid body with three degrees-of-freedom and its motions are analyzed in time-domain using the implicit Newmark Beta technique. The mooring lines restoring force-excursion relationship is evaluated using a quasi-static approach. It is observed that the mooring system with lines arranged in less number of groups exhibits better performance in terms of the restoring forces as well as mean position of platform. However, the dynamic motions of platform remain unaffected for different line groups.

Analysis of Optimization for Preliminary Design of Multi-Component Mooring Systems

Multi-component mooring systems become widely used in deep water position-keeping of drilling and production platforms. However, versatile materials make it difficult to design appropriate mooring lines made of several segments. Based on catenary equations of a multi-component mooring line at a specific water depth, this paper establishes a minimum model for designing this kind of lines. The model is solved by Genetic Algorithm and Multi-Objective Planning respectively. The model is verified by its application to a practical mooring design assignment—a quasi-static analysis for a large semi-submersible. The optimal result is finally obtained with the aid of design graphs.

Current Status and Future Trends for Mooring Systems of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

With the increasing demand of energy and the limitation of bottom-fixed wind turbines in moderate and deep waters,floating offshore wind turbines are doomed to be the right technical choice and they are bound to enter a new era of rapid development.The mooring system is a vital system of a floating wind turbine for station-keeping under harsh environmental con­ditions.In terms of existing floating wind turbine projects,this paper is devoted to discussing the current status of mooring systems and mooring equipment.This paper also presents the mooring analysis methods and points out the technical difficulties and challenges in mooring design,in­stallation,operation and maintenance stages.Finally,the developing trends of the mooring system are summarized,aiming to provide a reference for future mooring research.

对称系泊半潜平台在各种可能系泊组合下的动力学分析

In this technologically advancing world,the demand for more energy,oil and gas production is rapidly escalating.To accomplish this,people have inclined more towards completely floating offshore structures,deployed in deep waters.A semi-submersible is selected in the present study,due to its better response characteristics and stability under harsh environmental conditions.The semi-submersible is position restrain with spread mooring lines incorporated with submerged buoy at different locations has been studied.A detailed numerical analysis is carried out using Ansys Aqwa for dynamic response analysis of semi-submersible under the combination of wind,wave,and current forces for 0°,45°,and 90°directions.It was observed that damping ratios and natural periods had been affected based on the position and number of submerged buoys in the mooring system.Also,reduction in mooring force after incorporating buoy in the mooring lines was observed.Subsequently,a Matlab code based on the S-N curve approach was generated and employed to investigate the fatigue damage of mooring lines under dynamic variation of mooring forces.When pegged with submerged buoys,fatigue life of mooring lines is increased under intact and postulated damaged mooring conditions.Moreover,coupling of motion responses of semi-submersible is observed,and unbounded response is not seen in any degrees-offreedom,even during damaged condition of mooring lines.

Discrete Element Simulations of Ice Load and Mooring Force on Moored Structure in Level Ice

Moored structures are suitable for operations in ice-covered regions owing to their security and efficiency.This paper aims to present a new method for simulating the ice load and mooring force on the moored structure during ice-structure interaction with a spherical Discrete Element Method(DEM).In this method,the level ice and mooring lines consist of bonded sphere elements arranged in different patterns.The level ice model has been widely validated in simulation of the ice load of fixed structures.In the mooring line simulation,a string of spherical elements was jointed with the parallel bond model to simulate the chains or cable structure.The accuracy of the mooring line model was proved by comparing the numerical results with the nonlinear FEM results and model towing experiment results.The motion of the structure was calculated in the quaternion method,considering the ice load,mooring force,and hydrodynamic force.The hydrodynamic force comprised wave-making damping,current drag,and buoyancy force.Based on the proposed model,the interaction of a semi-submersible structure with level ice was simulated,and the effect of ice thickness on the ice load was analyzed.The numerical results show that the DEM method is suitable to simulate the ice load and mooring force on moored floating structures.

Prediction of the Mooring Force of a 2-D Floating Oil Storage Tank

A Constrained Interpolation Profile （CIP）-based model is developed to predict the mooring force of a two-dimensional floating oil storage tank under wave conditions, which is validated against to a newly performed experiment. In the experiment, a box-shaped floating oil storage apparatus is used. Computations are performed by an improved CIP-based Cartesian grid model, in which the THINC/SW scheme （THINC： tangent of hyperbola for interface capturing; SW： Slope Weighting）, is used for interface capturing. A multiphase flow solver is adopted to treat the water-air-body interactions. The Immersed Boundary Method （IBM） is implemented to treat the body surface. Main attention is paid to the sum force of mooring line and velocity field around the body. It is found that the sum force of the mooring line increases with increasing wave amplitude. The body suffers from water wave impact and large body motions occur near the free surface. The vortex occurs near the sharp edge, i.e., the sharp bottom comers of the float- ing oil storage tank and the vortex shedding can be captured by the present numerical model. The present model could be further improved by including turbulence model which is currently under development. Comparison between the computational mooring forces and the measured mooring forces is presented with a reasonable agreement. The developed numerical model can predict the mooring line forces very well.

Dynamic Analysis for the Global Performance of An SPM-Feeder-Cage System Under Waves and Currents

In the present study, the dynamic response of a coupled SPM-feeder-cage system under irregular waves and shear currents is analyzed. A numerical model is developed by using the commercial software Orca Flex. Hydrodynamics coefficients of the vessel are calculated by using a 3D diffraction/radiation panel program. First- and second-order wave forces are included in the calculations. Morison equation is used to compute the drag force on line elements representing the net. Drag coefficients are determined at every time step in the simulation considering the relative normal velocity between the structural elements and the fluid flow. The dynamic response of the coupled system is analyzed for various environments and net materials. The results of the study show the effects of solidity ratio of the net and vertical positions of the cage on the overall dynamic response of the system, confirming the viability of this type of configuration for future development of offshore aquaculture in deep waters.

锚泊线海床开槽与锚泊基础承载力研究进展综述

Mooring systems are usually adopted to position floating structures,including mooring lines and anchors,and directly determine the safety of floating structures.Seabed inspection reported that seabed trenches induced by mooring line-soil interaction appear in front of the anchor and reduce the anchor bearing capacity.This work first introduces the research progress of mooring line-soil interaction and seabed trenching simulation.Research about the suction anchor capacity in clay and sand is presented,and the seabed trench influence on anchor capacity is analyzed.For anchor analysis,this study gives a new perspective to analyze anchor installation and bearing capacity,i.e.,structure-soil interface characteristic.Some common anchor types are analyzed.Results showed that seabed trench simulation is still needed to acquire trench 3D profiles,in which the mooring line-soil dynamic interaction cannot be ignored.At present,the trench influence is not considered in suction anchor design,making the design dangerous.For the anchor,the interface shear characteristics control the most unfavorable loading conditions.Thus,accurate interface parameters should be obtained for anchor analysis.

The effect of axial stiffness of mooring lines on the horizontal motion of FDPSO

FDPSO is a multifunction floating platform,which has the integral function of drilling,production,storage and offloading.A spread mooring system is adopted to position the FDPSO.The coupled analysis in time domain for FDPSO system is conducted in the present paper,using the code DeepC.The effect of axial stiffness of the mooring line on the horizontal motion of FDPSO is studied by employing five types of different axial stiffness in the calculation of the motion response of FDPSO vessel.Furthermore,the results of a model test conducted in the State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering in Shanghai Jiao Tong University are used to investigate the feasibility of the numerical method.

Hydrodynamic Analysis of a Semi-submersible Wind-Tidal Combined Power Generation Device

Energy shortages and environmental pollution are becoming increasingly severe globally. The exploitation and utilization of renewable energy have become an effective way to alleviate these problems. To improve power production capacity, power output quality, and cost effectiveness, comprehensive marine energy utilization has become an inevitable trend in marine energy development. Based on a semi-submersible wind-tidal combined power generation device,a three-dimensional frequency domain potential flow theory is used to study the hydrodynamic performance of such a device. For this study, the RAOs and hydrodynamic coefficients of the floating carrier platform to the regular wave were obtained. The influence of the tidal turbine on the platform in terms of frequency domain was considered as added mass and damping. The direct load of the tidal turbine was obtained by CFX.FORTRAN software was used for the second development of adaptive query workload aware software, which can include the external force. The motion response of the platform to the irregular wave and the tension of the mooring line were calculated under the limiting condition(one mooring line breakage). The results showed that the motion response of the carrier to the surge and sway direction is more intense, but the swing amplitude is within the acceptable range. Even in the worst case scenario, the balance position of the platform was still in the positioning range, which met the requirements of the working sea area. The safety factor of the mooring line tension also complied with the requirements of the design specification. Therefore, it was found that the hydrodynamic performance and motion responses of a semi-submersible wind-tidal combined power generation device can meet the power generation requirements under all design conditions, and the device presents a reliable power generation system.