• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2016

It is important to research and understand the physical phenomenon around a semi-submersible offshore structure on waves and currents because the wave run-up and load occurs owing to the waves and currents. In this study, the numerical simulations are performed about flow around a fixed semi-submersible offshore structure. The Modified Marker-density method is adopted in the present computation procedure, this method is one of the various methods to define the free-surface. The present computation results are compared with existing experimental and numerical simulation(VOF method) results. And, the computation results are relatively coincident with the existing results of model test and numerical simulation by VOF method.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2013

This paper calculates the mating dynamic forces of a semi-submersible offshore structure's topside module, where a hull moored in the sea is combined with a topside module carried by a heavy lift vessel, as a mating installation method. The environmental conditions include various wave directions and wave heights, with constant wind and current speeds. Appropriate ballast and de-ballast plans for the heavy lift vessel and hull of the semi-rig should be performed in order to safely obtain these forces, whereas a fixed platform or the GBS (Gravity based structure) type of offshore structure only needs a ballast plan for the heavy lift vessel. From this paper, the allowable wave height or wave direction for the mating procedure can be investigated based on the standard DAF (Dynamic amplitude factor) of the rules and regulations.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.82-96
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• 2019

A semi-submersible structure has been widely used for offshore drilling and production of oil and gas. The small water plane area makes the structure very sensitive to weight increase in terms of payload and stability. Therefore, it is necessary to lighten the substructure from the early design stage. This study aims at an optimization of hull structure based on a sophisticated yield and buckling strength in accordance with classification rules. An in-house strength assessment system is developed to automate the procedure such as a generation of buckling panels, a collection of required panel information, automatic buckling and yield check and so on. The developed system enables an automatic yield and buckling strength check of all panels composing the hull structure at each iteration of the optimization. Design variables are plate thickness and stiffener section profiles. In order to overcome the difficulty of large number of design variables and the computational burden of FE analysis, various methods are proposed. The steepest descent method is selected as the optimization algorithm for an efficient search. For a reduction of the number of design variables and a direct application to practical design, the stiffener section variable is determined by selecting one from a pre-defined standard library. Plate thickness is also discretized at 0.5t interval. The number of FE analysis is reduced by using equations to analytically estimating the stress changes in gradient calculation and line search steps. As an endeavor to robust optimization, the number of design variables to be simultaneously optimized is divided by grouping the scantling variables by the plane. A sequential optimization is performed group by group. As a verification example, a central column of a semi-submersible structure is optimized and compared with a conventional optimization of all design variables at once.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.274-279
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• 2014

This paper investigates the line dynamic forces connecting tugs and a floater, where the planar motion of the floater is due to the weather criteria during the position keeping of the offshore structure by tugs. The analysis situation consists of the position keeping states for the seabed mooring line connection work of the offshore structure at the offshore site. Specifically, the decision about the tug power capacity for the position keeping is essential and depends on the weather criteria, line characteristics, length of line, etc. The planar motion of the structure is constrained by the interference of the installation vessel's operational range, behavior of the underwater fairlead, and other surrounding structures. In this paper, the tug line forces and planar motion of an offshore structure are summarized dependent on the tug line length and line material characteristics in the states fora given floater draft and weather criteria. The tug line dynamic forces and planar motion evaluated here will be used to determine the proper tug power and clearance of an offshore structure.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 2014

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of wave run-ups on a semi-submersible offshore structure. A series of model tests with a 1:80 scale ratio were carried out in the two-dimensional wave basin of MOERI/KIOST. The experimental model had two columns and one pontoon. The model was fixed and wave elevations were measured at five points per column. Two different draft (operational & survival) conditions and three wave heights were considered under regular wave conditions. First, the nonlinear characteristics of wave run-ups are discussed by using the time series data. Then, the wave heights are compared with numerical results based on the potential flow model. The comparison shows fairly good correlation between the experiments and computations. Finally, wave run-ups under the operational and survival conditions are suggested.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.423-448
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• 2019

Very Large Floating Structures (VLFS) are one among the solution to pursue an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology in birthing land from the sea. VLFS are extra-large in size and mostly extra-long in span. VLFS may be classified into two broad categories, namely the pontoon type and semi-submersible type. The pontoon-type VLFS is a flat box structure floating on the sea surface and suitable in regions with lower sea state. The semi-submersible VLFS has a deck raised above the sea level and supported by columns which are connected to submerged pontoons and are subjected to less wave forces. These structures are very flexible compared to other kinds of offshore structures, and its elastic deformations are more important than their rigid body motions. This paper presents hydroelastic analysis carried out on an innovative VLFS called truss pontoon Mobile Offshore Base (MOB) platform concept proposed by Srinivasan and Sundaravadivelu (2013). The truss pontoon MOB is modelled and hydroelastic analysis is carried out using HYDRAN-XR^* for regular 0° waves heading angle. Results are presented for variation of added mass and damping coefficients, diffraction and wave excitation forces, RAOs for translational, rotation and deformational modes and vertical displacement at salient sections with respect to wave periods.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.213-225
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• 2020

Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWT) installed in the deep sea regions where stable and strong wind flows are abundant would have significantly improved energy production capacity. When designing FOWT, it is essential to understand the stability and motion performance of the floater. Water tank model tests are required to evaluate these aspects of performance. This paper describes a model test and numerical simulation for a 750-kW semi-submersible platform wind turbine model-II. In the previous model test, the 750-kW FOWT model-I suffered slamming phenomena from extreme wave conditions. Because of that, the platform freeboard of model-II was increased to mitigate the slamming load on the platform deck structure in extreme conditions. Also, the model-I pitch Response Amplitude Operators (RAO) of simulation had strong responses to the natural frequency region. Thus, the hub height of model-II was decreased to reduce the pitch resonance responses from the low-frequency response of the system. Like the model-I, 750-kW FOWT model-II was built with a 1/40 scale ratio. Furthermore, the experiments to evaluate the performance characteristics of the model-II wind turbine were executed at the same location and in the same environment conditions as were those of model-I. These tests included a free decay test, and tests of regular and irregular wave conditions. Both the experimental and simulation conditions considered the blade rotating effect due to the wind. The results of the model tests were compared with the numerical simulations of the FOWT using FAST (Fatigue, Aerodynamics, Structures, and Turbulence) code from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1994.10a
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• pp.103-112
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• 1994

Various kinds of fatigue failures of ocean structures were reported and the importance of fatigue life estimation at the design state is significantly recognized and various kinds of analysis approaches have been discussed. In this paper characteristics of the simplified method proposed here and the spectral method are studied and the elements of the approach are discussed. The merits and demerits of the forementioned analysis schemes are studied and the relating parameters such as SCF and S-N curves are also investigated. The simplified fatigue analysis approach and tile spectral fatigue analysis technique is applied for the analysis of bracing members of typical semi-submersible drilling rig structure for the verification of the usage of two methods and the sensitivity study has been performed using the simplified method. The result from the spectral analysis give a more realistic picture of the fatigue life of the offshore structure considered here.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2018

In order to analyze the response of the offshore structure numerically, the linear potential theory is generally applied for simplicity, and only the radiation damping is considered among various damping forces. Therefore, the results of a numerical simulation can be different from the motion of the structure in a real environment. To reduce the differences between the simulation results and experimental results, the viscous damping, which affects the motion of the structure, is also taken into account. The appropriate damping model is essential for the numerical simulation in order to obtain precise responses of the offshore structure. In this study, various damping models such as linear or quadratic damping and the nonlinear drag force from numerous slender bodies were used to simulate the free decay motion of the platform, and its characteristics were confirmed. The optimized damping model was found by comparing the simulation results to the experimental results. The hydrodynamic forces and wave exciting forces of the structure were obtained using WAMIT, and the free decay test was simulated using OrcaFlex. A free decay test of the scale model was performed by KRISO.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.155-170
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• 2010

Availability of economic and efficient energy resources is crucial to a nation's development. Because of their low cost and advancement in drilling and exploration technologies, oil and gas based energy systems are the most widely used energy source throughout the world. The inexpensive oil and gas based energy systems are used for everything, i.e., from transportation of goods and people to the harvesting of crops for food. As the energy demand continues to rise, there is strong need for inexpensive energy solutions. An offshore platform is a large structure that is used to house workers and machinery needed to drill wells in the ocean bed, extract oil and/or natural gas, process the produced fluids, and ship or pipe them to shore. Depending on the circumstances, the offshore platform can be fixed (to the ocean floor) or can consist of an artificial island or can float. Semi-submersibles are used for various purposes in offshore and marine engineering, e.g. crane vessels, drilling vessels, tourist vessels, production platforms and accommodation facilities, etc. The challenges of deepwater drilling have further motivated the researchers to design optimum choices for semi-submersibles for a chosen operating depth. In our series of eight papers, we discuss the design and production aspects of all the types of offshore platforms. In the present part I, we present an introduction and critical analysis of semi-submersibles.