Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to present a rational method for analyzing, designing, or evaluating the spread mooring systems used with floating drilling units. This paper presents a validated model to calculate the catenary static configuration. A semi-resolution approach is presented in this paper that is capable of predicting the static performance of a caisson mooring system. The solution is derived as a function of only three parameters, which can be solved numerically by implementing different kinds of boundary conditions. The efficiency and accuracy of the method permit quick parametric studies for the optimal selection of the system particle, which is undoubtedly useful for a preliminary design. A number of numerical examples demonstrate the validity of the adopted approach. The paper contains a complete description of the test cases and reports the results in such a way that it can provide a "benchmark" test for users and programmers of computer codes for flexible riser analysis.