• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.111-126
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• 2013

The structural design requirements of an offshore platform subjected to wave induced forces and moments in the jacket can play a major role in the design of the offshore structures. For an economic and reliable design; good estimation of wave loadings are essential. A nonlinear response analysis of a fixed offshore platform under structural and wave loading is presented, the structure is discretized using the finite element method, wave plus current kinematics (velocity and acceleration fields) are generated using 5th order Stokes wave theory, the wave force acting on the member is calculated using Morison's equation. Hydrodynamic loading on horizontal and vertical tubular members and the dynamic response of fixed offshore structure together with the distribution of displacement, axial force and bending moment along the leg are investigated for regular and extreme conditions, where the structure should keep production capability in conditions of the 1-yr return period wave and must be able to survive the 100-yr return period storm conditions. The result of the study shows that the nonlinear response investigation is quite crucial for safe design and operation of offshore platform.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.209-219
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• 2022

Offshore platforms in seismically active areas must be designed to survive in the face of intense earthquakes without a global structural collapse. This paper scrutinizes the seismic performance of a newly designed and established jacket type offshore platform situated in the entrance of the Gulf of Suez region based on the API-RP2A normalized response spectra during seismic events. A nonlinear finite element model of a typical jacket type offshore platform is constructed taking into consideration the effect of structure-soil-interaction. Soil properties at the site were manipulated to generate the pile lateral soil properties in the form of load deflection curves, based on API-RP2A recommendations. Dynamic characteristics of the offshore platform, the response function, output power spectral density and transfer functions for different elements of the platform are discussed. The joints deflection and acceleration responses demands are presented. It is generally concluded that consideration of the interaction between structure, piles and soil leads to higher deflections and less stresses in platform elements due to soil elasticity, nonlinearity, and damping and leads to a more realistic platform design. The earthquake-based analysis for offshore platform structure is essential for the safe design and operation of offshore platforms.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.433-454
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• 2020

In-place analysis for offshore platforms is essentially required to make proper design for new structures and true assessment for existing structures. The structural integrity of platform components under the maximum and minimum operating loads of environmental conditions is required for risk assessment and inspection plan development. In-place analyses have been executed to check that the structural member with all appurtenances robustness and capability to support the applied loads in either storm condition or operating condition. A nonlinear finite element analysis is adopted for the platform structure above the seabed and the pile-soil interaction to estimate the in-place behavior of a typical fixed offshore platform. The analysis includes interpretation of dynamic design parameters based on the available site-specific data, together with foundation design recommendations for in-place loading conditions. The SACS software is utilized to calculate the natural frequencies of the model and to obtain the response of platform joints according to in-place analysis then the stresses at selected members, as well as their nodal displacements. The directions of environmental loads and water depth variations have important effects on the results of the in-place analysis behavior. The result shows that the in-place analysis is quite crucial for safe design and operation of offshore platform and assessment for existing offshore structures.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.263-270
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• 2021

In this study, a reliability-based design optimization of a 130-m class fixed-type offshore platform, to be installed in the North Sea, was carried out, while considering environmental, material, and manufacturing uncertainties to enhance its structural safety and economic aspects. For the reliability analysis, and reliability-based design optimization of the structural integrity, unity check values (defined as the ratio between working and allowable stress, for axial, bending, and shear stresses), of the members of the offshore platform were considered as constraints. Weight of the supporting jacket structure was minimized to reduce the manufacturing cost of the offshore platform. Statistical characteristics of uncertainties were defined based on observed and measured data references. Reliability analysis and reliability-based design optimization of a jacket-type offshore structure were computationally burdensome due to the large number of members; therefore, we suggested a method for variable screening, based on the importance of their output responses, to reduce the dimension of the problem. Furthermore, a deterministic design optimization was carried out prior to the reliability-based design optimization, to improve overall computational efficiency. Finally, the optimal design obtained was compared with the conventional rule-based offshore platform design in terms of safety and cost.

• Korean Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.334-340
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• 2016

As Information Technology (IT) is developed constantly, big data is becoming important in various industries, including ship and offshore industry where a lot of data are being generated. However, it is difficult to apply big data to ship and offshore industry because there is no generalized platform for its application. Therefore, this study presents a big data platform based on the Hadoop for applications in ship and offshore industry. The Hadoop is one of the most popular big data technologies. The presented platform includes existing data of shipyard and is possible to manage and process the data. To check the applicability of the platform, it is applied to estimate the weight of offshore plant topsides. The result shows that the platform can be one of alternatives to use effectively big data in ship and offshore industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.115-122
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to optimize the design of the jack-up platform for 5MW offshore wind turbine system. Considering all the environmental loads such as currents, waves, winds and so on, the members of structures have been designed and optimized based on the AISC and API-RP-2A to be within the allowable stress even in the most critical and severe condition. In addition to the above strength check of structural members, the joint punching shear check and the hydrostatic collapse check are also performed where they are required for the design. The design life of the jack-up platform is 50 years for the static strength check and the fatigue design life is 100 years including to the DFF(Design Fatigue Factor) of 2.0 to have enough stability and workability for the design optimization.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.511-525
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• 2021

Aluminium outfitting is widely used in offshore platforms owing to its anti-corrosion ability and its light weight. However, various standards exist (ISO, NORSOK and EN) for the design of handrails used in offshore platforms, and different suppliers have different criteria. This causes great confusion for designers. Moreover, the design load required by the standards is not clearly defined or is uncertain. Thus, many offshore projects reference previous project details or are conservatively designed without additional clarification. In this study, all of the codes and standards were reviewed and analysed through prior studies, and data on variable factors that directly and indirectly affect the handrails applied to offshore platforms were analysed. A total of 50 handrail design load scenarios were proposed through deterministic and probabilistic approaches. To verify the proposed new handrail design load selection scenario, structural analysis was performed using SACS (offshore structural analysis software). This new proposal through deterministic and probabilistic approaches is expected to improve safety by clarifying the purpose of the handrails. Furthermore, the acceptance criteria for probabilistic scenarios for handrails suggest considering the frequency of handrail use and the design life of offshore platforms to prevent excessive design. This study is expected to prevent trial and error in handrail design while maintaining overall worker safety by applying a loading scenario suitable for the project environment to enable optimal handrail design.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.11-24
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• 2009

In China, the oil and natural gas resources of Bohai Bay are mainly marginal oil fields. It is necessary to build both ice-resistant and economical offshore platforms. However, risk is involved in the design, construction, utilization, maintenance of offshore platforms as uncertain events may occur within the life-cycle of a platform under the extreme ice load. In this study, the optimum design model of the expected life-cycle cost for ice-resistant platforms based on cost-effectiveness criterion is proposed. Multiple performance demands of the structure, facilities and crew members, associated with the failure assessment criteria and evaluation functions of costs of construction, consequences of structural failure modes including damage, revenue loss, death and injury as well as discounting cost over time are considered. An efficient approximate method of the global reliability analysis for the offshore platforms is provided, which converts the implicit nonlinear performance function in the conventional reliability analysis to linear explicit one. The proposed life-cycle optimum design formula are applied to a typical ice-resistant platform in Bohai Bay, and the results demonstrate that the life-cycle cost-effective optimum design model is more rational compared to the conventional design.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.29-42
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• 2023

In this study, research and empirical cases of floating offshore wind turbine systems with a tension-leg platform are investigated, and hydrodynamic and structural characteristics according to platform shapes and characteristics during transportation and installation are confirmed. Most platforms are composed of pontoons or corner columns, and these are mainly located below the waterline to minimize the impact of breaking waves and supplement the lack of buoyancy of the center column. These pontoons and corner columns are designed with a simple shape to reduce manufacturing and assembly costs, and some platforms additionally have reinforcements such as braces to improve structural strength. Most of the systems are assembled in the yard and then moved by tugboat and installed, and some platforms have been developed with a dedicated barge for simultaneous assembly, transportation and installation. In this study, we intend to secure the basic data necessary for the design, transportation, and installation procedures of floating offshore wind turbine systems with a tension-leg platform.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.243-266
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• 2020

In-place analysis for offshore platforms is required to make proper design for new structures and true assessment for existing structures. In addition, ensure the structural integrity of platforms components under the maximum and minimum operating loads and environmental conditions. In-place analysis was carried out to verify the robustness and capability of structural members with all appurtenances to support the applied loads in either operating condition or storm conditions. A nonlinear finite element analysis is adopted for the platform structure above the seabed and the pile-soil interaction to estimate the in-place behavior of a typical fixed offshore platform. The SACS software is utilized to calculate the natural frequencies of the model and to obtain the response of platform joints according to in-place analysis then the stresses at selected members, as well as their nodal displacements. The directions of environmental loads and water depth variations have an important effect on the results of the in-place analysis behavior. The influence of the soil-structure interaction on the response of the jacket foundation predicts is necessary to estimate the loads of the offshore platform well and real simulation of offshore foundation for the in-place analysis. The result of the study shows that the in-place response investigation is quite crucial for safe design and operation of offshore platform against the variation of environmental loads.