A Motion Analysis of FPSO in Irregular Waves including Swells

Recently moored offshore vessels like as FPSO(Floating Production Storage Offloading) are frequently deployed in seas for a long time. For successful operation, the motion behavior of such a vessel in waves must be clarified in advance either theoretically or experimentally. It is of particular interest to examine the behavior, when swells are superposed to seas with different incident angle. Such a situation is actually reported in some offshore oilfield. In this paper, the motion of a FPSO in irregular waves including swells is studied in time domain. Hydrodynamic coefficients and wave forces are calculated in frequency domain using three-dimensional singularity distribution method. Time memory function and added mass at infinite frequency are derived by Fourier transform utilizing hydrodynamic damping coefficients. In the process, the numerical accuracy of added mass at infinite frequency is carefully examined in association with free decay simulations. It is found from numerical simulations that swells significantly affect the vertical motion of FPSO mainly because of their longer period compared to the ordinary sea waves. In particular, the roll motion is largely amplified because the dominant period of swell is closer to the roll natural period than that of seas.