• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.407-421
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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, in addition to the structural integrity of platforms components under the maximum and minimum operating loads when subjected to the environmental conditions. In-place analysis have been executed to check that the structural member with all appurtenance's robustness have the capability to support the applied loads in either storm or operating conditions. A nonlinear finite element analysis is adopted for the platform structure above the seabed and pile-soil interaction to estimate the in-place behavior of a typical fixed offshore platform. The SACS software is utilized to calculate the dynamic characteristics of the platform model and the response of platform joints then the stresses at selected members, as well as their nodal displacements. The directions of environmental loads and water depth variations have significant effects in the results of the in-place analysis behavior. The most of bending moment responses of the piles are in the first fourth of pile penetration depth from pile head level. The axial deformations of piles in all load combinations cases of all piles are inversely proportional with penetration depth. The largest values of axial soil reaction are shown at the pile tips levels (the maximum penetration level). The most of lateral soil reactions resultant are in the first third of pile penetration depth from pile head level and approximately vanished after that penetration. The influence of the soil-structure interaction on the response of the jacket foundation predicts that the flexible foundation model is necessary to estimate the force responses demands of the offshore platform with a piled jacket-support structure well.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.354-360
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• 2022

The aluminum handrails used for promoting structural strength and weight reduction of the topside in an offshore platform are designed according to international standards (ISO, NORSOK, and Austria Standard), and consider the most conservative load combinations. Existing aluminum handrails are bolted to a socket when installed on the topside of a platform, and the amount of deflection of the handrail is largely influenced by the socket design. However, the importance of socket design has been overlooked, and furthermore, separate evaluation procedures or guidance for socket design are ambiguous. Therefore, a series analysis was performed for estimating the structural strength of aluminum handrails to obtain the governing parameters that minimize their deflection against loads. Experimental verification was performed to validate the structural safety of the new model, and we confirmed that all were satisfied within allowable deflection according to international standards. The developed model could be used in several areas in the future as it is lighter and more productive compared to existing models from overseas makers.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.38.2-38.2
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• 2011

A large number of offshore wind turbines with fixed foundations have been installed in water depths up to 30 meters supporting 3-5MW wind turbines. Some floating platform concepts of offshore wind turbines were designed to be suitable for deployment in water depths greater than 60 meters. However the optimal design of this system in water depth 50 meters remains unknown. In this paper, a 5-MW wind turbine located on a TLP type platform was suggested for installation in this water depth. It is moored by a taut mooring line. For controlling the wind turbine always be operated at the upwind direction, one yaw controlling was attached at the tower. To study motion characteristics of this platform, a model was built with a 1/128 scale ratio. The model test was carried out in various conditions, including waves, winds and rotating rotor effect in the Ocean Engineering Wide Tank of the University Of Ulsan (UOU). The characteristic motions of the TLP platform were captured and the effective RAOs were obtained.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.191-218
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• 2019

The tower-platform interface and mooring system of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are some of the most critical components with significant influences on overall project costs. In addition to satisfying strength requirements, it is typical and vital to meet fatigue criteria for a service life of 25 years or more. Wind spectra characteristics considered in analysis can penalize fatigue designs, leading to unnecessary costs. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC, 2009) recommends the use of site-specific wind data (spectrum, turbulence intensity, etc.) in design of FOWTs, but for offshore sites it is often the case that such data is unavailable and land-based data are used as surrogates in design. For such scenarios, it is worth investigating whether such alternative approach is suitable and accurate, and understanding the consequence of the selection of wind spectral characteristics on fatigue design. This paper addresses the impact of the subsequent selection on fatigue responses of towerbase and mooring system in a FOWT, as a sequel to the paper by Udoh and Zou (2018) which focused on impacts on strength design. The 5 MW semi-submersible FOWT platform with six mooring lines implemented in the preceding study is applied in analysis. Results indicate significant variations in resulting fatigue life with considered wind parameters. Thus, it is critical to apply proper wind spectra characteristics for analysis and design of FOWTs to avoid unnecessary conservatism and costs. Based on the findings of this study, more explicit guidance on the application of turbulence intensities for IEC-recommended models in offshore sites could lead to more accurate load estimates in design of FOWTs.

• Journal of Advanced Research in Ocean Engineering
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.252-267
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• 2015

Offshore structures might encounter several environmental and operating conditions during their lifetime of several decades. In order to predict the dynamic behavior of offshore structures, several simulation cases should be considered to deal with all the combinations of ocean environments and operating conditions. Because a sophisticated time-domain coupled dynamic analysis requires an extremely large amount of computational time to handle all the possible cases, an efficient preliminary process to prescreen the probability of severe environmental conditions can be helpful in downsizing the number of simulation cases and computational effort. In this study, a prescreening procedure to reduce the number of environmental conditions for dynamic analyses of offshore structures is proposed. For the efficiency of the procedure, frequency-domain theories were adopted to estimate the platform offset, using quasi-static analyses in line tension prediction. The results were validated by comparing with those of dynamic analysis coupled between platform and mooring lines, and reasonable agreement was observed. In addition, the characteristics of environmental conditions classified to be severe to the system were investigated through the application of the developed prescreening scheme to several actual environmental conditions.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.1-7
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• 2010

Offshore, sub-sea pipelines that transport oil and gas experience thermal expansion induced by the temperature of the transported medium during operation. The expansion of the pipeline can induce overload and cause damage to offshore platforms or sub-sea structures that are connected to the pipelines. To mitigate and prevent these incidents, expansion spools are installed between offshore, sub-sea pipelines and risers on the platform. This paper presents the results of the study and development of a simplified design method for expansion spools, using the slope deflection method for the purpose of preliminary design or front-end engineering and design (FEED).

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.157-174
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• 2016

Based on classical viscoelastic damper, a brand-new damper is designed by the change of simple construction to implement vibration control for both translational vibration and rotational vibration simultaneously. Theoretic analysis has been carried out on the restoring force model and the control parameters. Two improved models are presented to obtain high simulation precision. The influence of the size, shape of the viscoelastic material, the ambient temperature and the response frequency on the vibration control effect is analyzed. The numerical results show that the new type viscoelastic damper is capable of mitigating the multi-dimensional seismic response of offshore platform and the response control effect has complicated relations with aforementioned related factors.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.253-265
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• 2014

The platform and floating structure of spar type offshore wind turbine systems should be designed in order for the 6-DOF motions to be minimized, considering diverse loading environments such as the ocean wave, wind, and current conditions. The objective of this study is to optimally design the platform and substructure of a 3MW spar type wind turbine system with the maximum postural stability in 6-DOF motions as well as the minimum material cost. Therefore, design variables of the platform and substructure were first determined and then optimized by a hydrodynamic analysis. For the hydrodynamic analysis, the body weight of the system was considered, and the ocean wave conditions were quantified to the wave forces using the Morison's equation. Moreover, the minimal number of computation analysis models was generated by the Design of Experiments (DOE), and the design variables of the platform and substructure were finally optimized by using a genetic algorithm with a neural network approximation.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2021

A Leg Mating Unit (LMU) is a device utilized during the float-over installation of offshore structures that include hyperelastic pads and mating part. The hyperelastic pads absorb the loads, whereas the mating part works as guidance between topside and supporting structures during the mating sequence of float-over installation. In this study, the design optimization of an LMU for the float-over installation of floating-type offshore structures is conducted to enhance the performance and to satisfy the requirements defined by classification society regulations. The initial dimensions of the LMU are referred to the dimensions of those used in fixed-type float-over installation because only the location and the number of LMUs are known. The two-parameter Mooney-Rivlin model is adopted to describe the hyperelastic pads under given material parameters. Geometric variables, such as the thickness, height, and width of members, as well as configuration variables, such as the angle and number of members, are defined as design variables and are parameterized. A sampling-based design sensitivity analysis based on latin hypercube sampling method is performed to filter the important design variables. The design optimization problem is formulated to minimize the total mass of the LMU under maximum von Mises stress and reaction force constraints.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.473-488
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• 2022

To have a better understanding of the impact of the PETRONAS oil and gas platform on commercial fisheries activities, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) examined two approaches which are data collection from satellite and data collection from fishermen and anglers. By profiling the anglers who utilize reefed oil and gas structures for fishing, it can determine if the design and location of the reef platforms will benefit or negatively impacts those anglers and fisherman. Furthermore, this assessment will be contributing to the knowledge regarding the value of offshore oil and gas platforms as fisheries resources. Collectively, the apparent fishing activity data included, combined with the findings in the reefing viability index will help to inform PETRONAS's future decommissioning decisions and may help determine if the design and proposed locations for future rigs-to-reefs candidates would benefit commercial fishing groups, further qualifying them as appropriate artificial reef candidates. The method applied in this study is approaching by using a data satellite known as Google's Global Fishing Watch technology, which is one of the applications to measure commercial fishing efforts around the globe. The apparent commercial fishing effort around the selected twelve PETRONAS platforms was analyzed from January 2012 to December 2018. Using the data collection from fishermen which is the total estimation of commercial fish value cost (in Malaysia ringgit, MYR [RM]) in Peninsular Malaysia Asset, Sabah Asset, and Sarawak Operation region. The data were extracted every month from 2016 to 2018 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration database. Most of the selected platforms that show a high frequency of vessels around the year are platform KP-A, platform BG-A and platform PL-B. The estimated values of commercial fishes varied between platforms, with ranged from RM 10,209.92 to RM 89,023.78. Thus, platforms with high commercial fish value are selected for reefing in-situ and will serve multi-purposes and benefit the locals as well as the country. The current study has successfully assessed the potential reefing area of the Malaysian offshore environment with greater representativeness and this paper focused on its potential as a new fishing ground.