• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.349-368
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• 2019

Triceratops is one of the new generations of offshore compliant platforms suitable for ultra-deepwater applications. Apart from environmental loads, the offshore structures are also susceptible to accidental loads. Due to the increase in the risk of collision between ships and offshore platforms, the accurate prediction of structural response under impact loads becomes necessary. This paper presents the numerical investigations of the impact response of the buoyant leg of triceratops usually designed as an orthogonally stiffened cylindrical shell with stringers and ring frames. The impact analysis of buoyant leg with a rectangularly shaped indenter is carried out using ANSYS explicit analysis solver under different impact load cases. The results show that the shell deformation increases with the increase in impact load, and the ring stiffeners hinder the shell damage from spreading in the longitudinal direction. The response of triceratops is then obtained through hydrodynamic response analysis carried out using ANSYS AQWA. From the results, it is observed that the impact load on single buoyant leg causes periodic vibration in the deck in the surge and pitch degrees of freedom. Since the impact response of the structure is highly affected by the geometric and material properties, numerical studies are also carried out by varying the strain rate, and the location of the indenter and the results are discussed.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.175-194
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• 2016

Based on the change of traditional viscoelastic damper structure, a brand-new damper is designed to control simultaneously the translational vibration and the rotational vibration for platforms. Experimental study has been carried out on the mechanical properties of viscoelastic material and on its multi-dimensional seismic response control effect of viscoelastic damper. Three types of viscoelastic dampers with different shapes of viscoelastic material are designed to test the influence of excited frequency, strain amplitude and ambient temperature on the mechanical property parameters such as circular dissipation per unit, equivalent stiffness, loss factor and storage shear modulus. Then, shaking table tests are done on a group of single-storey platform systems containing one symmetric platform and three asymmetric platforms with different eccentric forms. Experimental results show that the simulation precision of the restoring force model is rather good for the shear deformation of viscoelastic damper and is also satisfied for the torsion deformation and combined deformations of viscoelastic damper. The shaking table tests have verified that the new-type viscoelastic damper is capable of mitigating the multi-dimensional seismic response of offshore platform.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.311-325
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• 2008

Noting that damage occurrence of offshore jacket platforms is concentrated in two structural regions that are in the vicinity of still water surface and close to the seabed, a damage detection method by using only partial measurement of vibration in a suspect region was presented in this paper, which can not only locate damaged members but also evaluate damage severities. Then employing an experiment platform model under white-noise ground excitation by shaking table and using modal parameters of the first three modes identified by a scalar-type ARMA method on undamaged and damaged structures, the feasibility of the damage detection method was discussed. Modal parameters from eigenvalue analysis on the structural FEM model were also used to help the discussions. It is demonstrated that the damage detection algorithm is feasible on damage location and severity evaluation for broken slanted braces and it is robust against the errors of baseline FEM model to real structure when the principal errors is formed by difference of modal frequencies. It is also found that Z-value changes of modal shapes also play a role in the precise detection of damage.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• 제2권3호
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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.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제18권4호
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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 Advanced Research in Ocean Engineering
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• 제2권3호
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• pp.136-149
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• 2016

Green water impact occurs frequently on offshore platform due to waves with a height greater relative to the freeboard of the structure. This phenomenon exerts a large impact load on the deck. In this paper, offshore platform models with green water protectors of various shapes were fixed to the center of a 3D wave tank to measure the impact pressure acting on the various points on deck and protectors. The impact pressure distribution differed depending on the protector shape, and various patterns of wave creeping up the protector were observed. The protector shape that exerted the lowest pressure impact on the deck will be useful in the deck design of offshore platform, and the model test results will be expected to be used for designers to select the best protector form.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.1-32
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• 2016

This paper describes the backgrounds, motivations and recent history of structural health monitoring (SHM) developments to various types of engineering structures. Extensive applications of SHM technologies in bridges, high-rise buildings, sport avenues, offshore platforms, underground structures, dams, etc. in mainland China are summarily categorized and listed in tables. Sensors used in implementations, their deployment, damage identification strategies if applicable, preliminary monitoring achievements and experience are presented in the lists. Finally, existing problems and promising research efforts in civil SHM are discussed, highlighting challenges and future trends.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제35권4호
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• pp.479-491
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• 2010

Advances in geological studies, have identified increased seismic activity in the world's ocean once believed to be far from seismic hazards. The increase in demand of oil and other hydrocarbons leaves no option but to install a suitable offshore platform on these seismically sensitive offshore basins. Therefore, earthquake based design criteria for offshore structures are essential. The focus of the present review is on various computational techniques involved for seismic response study. The structural and load modeling approaches, the disturbed fluid-structure and soil-structure interaction as well as hydrodynamic damping due to earthquake excitation are also discussed. A brief description on the reliability-based seismic design approach is also presented.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• 제9권5호
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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.

• 풍력에너지저널
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.61-68
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• 2023

This paper aims to perform optimal operation and maintenance with an integrated monitoring system for offshore wind platforms. Based on the wind direction and wind speed data of existing wind farms, a monitoring system was established along with weather and weather data to maximize the operational efficiency of wind farms. Compared to wind power on land, offshore wind power is difficult to maintain due to weather, logistics and geographical limitations. Therefore, economic analysis of actual operation and maintenance is essential for large-scale offshore wind farms. In this paper, the availability of offshore wind farms was analyzed by using personnel resources, parts inventory, Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) and Specialized service Operation Vessel (SOV) etc. before the actual operation and maintenance of wind farms. A comparative analysis was conducted to determine the optimum operating efficiency and economical maintenance costs.