• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.153-160
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• 2010

This paper deals with the topology optimized design of the riser support structures for floating production storage and offloading units (FPSOs) under global and local loading conditions. For a preliminary study and validation of the numerical approach, a simplified plate under static loading is first evaluated with the representative topology optimization methods, the Homogenization Design Method (HDM) and Density Method (DM) or Simple Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP). In the context of the corresponding riser support structures, the design problem is formulated such that structure shapes based on design domain variables are determined by minimizing the compliance subject to a mass target, considering the stress criterion. An initial design model is generated based on an actual FPSO riser support configuration. The topology optimization results present improved design performances under various loading conditions, while staying within the allowable limit of the offshore area.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.543-551
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• 2011

The paper deals with the comparative study of design optimization based on various approximation techniques in strength design of riser support structure installed on floating production storage and offloading unit(FPSO) using offshore operation loading conditions. The design optimization problem is formulated such that structural member sizing variables are determined by minimizing the weight of riser support structure subject to the constraints of structural strength in terms of loading conditions. The approximation techniques used in the comparative study are response surface method based sequential approximate optimization(RBSAO), Kriging based sequential approximate optimization(KBSAO), and the enhanced moving least squares method(MLSM) based approximate optimization such as CF(constraint feasible)-MLSM and Post-MLSM. Commercial process integration and design optimization(PIDO) tools are employed for the applications of RBSAO and KBSAO. The enhanced MLSM based approximate optimization techniques are newly developed to ensure the constraint feasibility. In the context of numerical performances such as design solution and computational cost, the solution results from approximate techniques based design optimization are compared to actual non-approximate design optimization.