• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.89-95
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• 2009

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the safety under extreme environmental conditions and the dynamic safety under service environment conditions, of oceanographic buoy mooring systems consisting of a variety of materials, including chain, wire rope, nylon rope, and polypropylene rope. For the static safety assessment of a mooring system, after the calculation of external forces and the division of a mooring system into finite elements, the numerical integral was conducted to yield the elemental static tension until satisfying the geometrical convergence condition. To evaluate the dynamic safety, various processes were considered, including data collection about the anticipated areas for mooring, a determination of the parameters for the interpretation, the interpretation of the dynamic characteristics based on an analytic equation that takes into account the heave motion effect of a buoy hull and a mooring system, and a fatigue analysis of the linear cumulative damage. Based on the analysis results, a supplementary proposal for a wire rope that has a fracture in an actual mooring area was established.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.135-137
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• 2019

In recent years, the need for ship-to-ship has emerged around the world as the volume of tanker carriers increases. In the case of STS mooring, a safety review should be carried out on other standards since the characteristics are different from the mooring at a typical wharf. However, there is no separate standard about STS in Korea. Therefore, in this study, STS mooring simulation and sensitivity analysis were performed using OPTIMOOR program, a commercial numerical analysis program, to identify STS mooring characteristics. The target sea area is modeled at D2 anchorage of Yeosu Port in Korea, and modeling of the target ship is selected as the case of VLCC-VLCC. Based on this, we tried to establish the standard for STS mooring safety evaluation. Numerical simulation results show that the STS mooring changes depending on the ship load condition, weather condition(wave period and wave height), encounter angle and pre-tension of mooring line. In addition, a risk matrix was created to set the safe external force range in the sea area. It is expected that the mooring characteristics of the STS can be grasped by this result and contribute to the revision of the mooring safety assessment standard.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2009

The paper describes results of a sensitivity study on an optimum mooring cost as a function of safety factor and allowable maximum offset of the offshore floating structure by finding the anchor leg component size and the declination angle. A harmony search (HS) based mooring optimization program was developed to conduct the study. This mooring optimization model was integrated with a frequency-domain global motion analysis program to assess both cost and design constraints of the mooring system. To find a trend of anchor leg system cost for the proposed sensitivity study, optimum costs after a certain number of improvisation were found and compared. For a case study a turret-moored FPSO with 3 ${\times}$ 3 anchor leg system was considered. To better guide search for the optimum cost, three different penalty functions were applied. The results show that the presented HS-based cost-optimum offshore mooring design tool can be used to find optimum mooring design values such as declination angle and horizontal end point separation as well as a cost-optimum mooring system in case either the allowable maximum offset or factor of safety varies.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.171-210
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• 2024

This paper focuses on the rigorous and holistic fatigue analysis of mooring chains for a deep draft semi-submersible platform in the challenging environment of the central Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Known for severe hurricanes and strong loop/eddy currents, this region significantly impacts offshore structures and their mooring systems, necessitating robust designs capable of withstanding extreme wind, wave and current conditions. Wave scatter and current bin diagrams are utilized to assess the probabilistic distribution of waves and currents, crucial for calculating mooring chain fatigue. The study evaluates the effects of Vortex Induced Motion (VIM), Out-of-Plane-Bending (OPB), and In-Plane-Bending (IPB) on mooring fatigue, alongside extreme single events such as 100-year hurricanes and loop/eddy currents including ramp-up and ramp-down phases, to ensure resilient mooring design. A detailed case study of a deep draft semi-submersible platform with 16 semi-taut moorings in 2,500 meters of water depth in the central GoM provides insights into the relative contributions of wave scatter diagram, VIMs from current bin diagram, the combined stresses of OPB/IPB/TT and extreme single events. By comparing these factors, the study aims to enhance understanding and optimize mooring system design for safety, reliability, and cost-effectiveness in offshore operations within the central GoM. The paper addresses a research gap by proposing a holistic approach that integrates findings from various contributions to advance current practices in mooring design. It presents a comprehensive framework for fatigue analysis and design optimization of mooring systems in the central GoM, emphasizing the critical importance of considering environmental conditions, OPB/IPB moments, and extreme single events to ensure the safety and reliability of mooring systems for offshore platforms.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.435-446
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• 2016

In this study, hydrodynamic and mooring analysis for LNG FSRU moored by an internal turret with 9 mooring lines are numerically performed using commercial softwares, Hydrostar and Ariane. Met-ocean combinations for screening method are taken from wave governed condition(BV Rule Note NR 493) with relative heading between wave and wind between −45° and +45° and relative heading between wind and current between −30° and +30°. Extreme mooring analysis and sensitivity analysis are performed for intact and damaged (=one line missing) conditions and the parameters for sensitivity analysis are wave peak period, peak enhancement factor and line pretension. In the viewpoint of the design tension in mooring line, chain diameter is designed to satisfy safety factor for each conditions. As the chain diameter is increased from 152mm to 171mm, the designtension is reduced while the minimum breaking load is increased.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.950-957
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• 2023

For safe mooring and towing between the ship and port, the equipment must be designed in accordance with the relevant international regulations. However, some small shipyards and engineering companies often do not fully comprehend the core contents. Therefore, the international regulations regarding towing and mooring equipment are reviewed and the bollard and chock are newly developed based on the Mooring Equipment Guideline 4 (MEG4) standards. A bollard is a mooring equipment used to fix a mooring rope to the hull. It has two columns and is mostly used in a figure eight pattern knots under the mooring condition. The chock, which is used to change the mooring rope direction coming into the ship from outside, is manufactured using a casting with curvature. The two mooring equipment are widely used in the stern, bow, and mid-side. Owing to the increase in the size of container vessels and LNG ships, the mooring rope load has increased and the safe working load of the mooring equipment must be revised. This study summarizes and examines the results of the allowable stress method obtained using finite element analysis modelling. To consider the mesh size effect, a reasonable criteria was suggested by referring the existing class guidance. Additionally, the safe working load was verified through nonlinear collapse analysis, and the elastic region against load increments was confirmed. Furthermore, the proposed evaluation method can be used to develop similar equipment in the near future.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2019

Mooring bollards are the mandatory facility in ports for they are the objects used to fasten the ship to its position at the berth. All the mooring bollards were installed following suggested sizes, numbers, materials and shape of installation according to Port and Fishing Design Standards. However, Korea has no management standard for use of mooring bollards to safety in ship berthing. In this research, the installation standard for mooring bollards including the holding power applied to mooring bollards in berthing was studied. Also, the performance of mooring bollards for minimum safety guarantee in berthing based on research of various specification by their sizes was analyzed. The analysis on mooring bollards was examined by each power on mooring bollards from the applied force in berthing divided into horizontal and vertical direction in order to examine the performance of domestic mooring bollards, the limit force is calculated based on detailed specification research result. As a result, the working stress according to the towing force was found to be at least 150Mpa and it was evaluated to be 60% of the limit strength. Also, by comparing each forces, the appropriateness was examined and the specification of maximum capability calculated. This performance evaluation method based on detail specification of mooring bollards will be expected to be useful to examine the appropriateness of mooring bollards for various types of vessel in berthing and to develop maintenance and management standard through the performance change evaluation referring to mooring bollard detailed specification changes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.445-455
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• 2023

Sea level rise due to global warming is accelerating. According to the IPCC survey, the expected sea level rise in 2100 was analyzed to be 47cm in the low-carbon scenario (SSP 1-2.6) and 82cm in the high-carbon scenario (SSP 5-8.5). Sea level rise can cause serious damage to port infrastructure and reduce the safety of ships docked inside ports. In this study, Mokpo Port, which frequently suffers from flooding during high tide, was selected and the sensitivity of mooring evaluation factors was analyzed for actual berthing ships according to sea level rise scenarios. From the analysis, we found that the tension of mooring line, the load of bollard, vertical angle of mooring line, and ship's motion of 6-DOF, which are evaluation factors, generally increased when the sea level increased. The most sensitive evaluation factor was sway motion of 6-DOF. Also, we analyzed that the value of mooring evaluation factors decreased when the crown height was raised. This was beneficial in improving ship and pier safety. The results of this study can be used as basic data to secure measures to improve port and ship safety according to sea level rise in Mokpo Port.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.248-253
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• 2023

Most offshore platforms utilize chain mooring systems for position keeping. However, information regarding related design modification processes is scarce in literature. This study focuses on the floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering terminal (FLBT) as the target of shore platform and analyzes the corresponding initial mooring design and model tests via numerical simulations. Subsequently, based on the modified design conditions, a new mooring system design is proposed. Adjusting the main direction of the mooring line bundle according to the dominant environmental direction is found to significantly reduce the mooring design load. Even turret-moored offshore platforms are exposed to beam sea conditions, leading to high mooring tension due to motions in beam sea conditions. Collinear environmental conditions cannot be considered as design conditions. Mooring design loads occur under complex conditions of wind, waves, and currents in different environmental directions. Therefore, it is essential appropriately assign the roll damping coefficients during mooring analysis because the roll has a significant effect on mooring tension.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.479-487
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• 2023

Recently, the destructive power of typhoons is continuously increasing owing to global warming. In a situation where the installation of floating wind turbines is increasing worldwide, concerns about the huge loss and collapse of floating offshore wind turbines owing to strong typhoons are deepening. A new type of disconnectable mooring system must be developed for the safe operation of floating offshore wind turbines. A new submersible mooring pulley considered in this study is devised to more easily attach or detach the floating of shore wind turbine with mooring lines compared with other disconnectable mooring apparatuses. To investigate the structural safety of the initial design of submersible mooring pulley that can be applied to an 8MW-class floating type offshore wind turbine, scale-down structural models were developed using a 3-D printer and structural tests were performed on the models. For the structural tests of the scale-down models, tensile specimens of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material that was used in the 3-D printing were prepared, and the material properties were evaluated by conducting the tensile tests. The finite element analysis (FEA) of submersible mooring pulley was performed by applying the material properties obtained from the tensile tests and the same load and boundary conditions as in the scale-down model structural tests. Through the FEA, the structural weak parts on the submersible mooring pulley were reviewed. The structural model tests were conducted considering the main load conditions of submersible mooring pulley, and the FEA and test results were compared for the locations that exceeded the maximum tensile stress of the material. The results of the FEA and structural model tests indicated that the connection structure of the body and the wheel was weak in operating conditions and that of the body and the chain stopper was weak in mooring conditions. The results of this study enabled to experimentally verify the structural safety of the initial design of submersible mooring pulley. The study results can be usefully used to improve the structural strength of submersible mooring pulley in a detailed design stage.