Nonlinear System Identification in Offshore Structural Reliability

Nonlinear forces acting on offshore structures are examined from a system identification perspective. The nonlinearities are induced by ocean waves and may become significant in many situations. They are not necessarily in the form of Morison’s equation. Various wave force models are examined. The force function is either decomposed into a set of base functions or it is expanded in terms of the wave and structural kinematics. The resulting nonlinear system is decomposed into a number of parallel no-memory nonlinear systems, each followed by a finite-memory linear system. A conditioning procedure is applied to decouple these linear sub-systems; a frequency domain technique involving autospectra and cross-spectra is employed to identify the linear transfer functions. The structural properties and the force transfer parameters are determined with the aid of the coherence functions. The method is verified using simulated data. It provides a versatile and noniterative approach for dealing with nonlinear interaction problems encountered in offshore structural analysis and design.

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Modeling and Identification of a Nonlinear SDOF Moored Structure, Part 1—Hydrodynamic Models and Algorithms

Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering ◽

10.1115/1.1710875 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 126 (2) ◽

pp. 175-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

S. Narayanan ◽

S. C. S. Yim

Keyword(s):

System Identification ◽

Nonlinear System ◽

Small Body ◽

Nonlinear System Identification ◽

Ocean Waves ◽

System Response ◽

Restoring Force ◽

Nonlinear Structure ◽

Submerged Sphere ◽

Highly Nonlinear

The highly nonlinear responses of compliant ocean structures characterized by a large-geometry restoring force and coupled fluid-structure interaction excitation are of great interest to ocean and coastal engineers. Practical modeling, parameter identification, and incorporation of the inherent nonlinear dynamics in the design of these systems are essential and challenging. The general approach of a nonlinear system technique using very simple models has been presented in the literature by Bendat. In Part 1 of this two-part study, two specific nonlinear small-body hydrodynamic Morison type formulations: (A) with a relative-velocity (RV) model, and (B) with an independent flow-field (IFF) model, are formulated. Their associated nonlinear system-identification algorithms based on the reverse multiple-input/single-output (R-MI/SO) system-identification technique: (A.1) nonlinear-structure linearly damped, and (A.2) nonlinear-structure coupled hydrodynamically damped for the RV model, and (B.1) nonlinear-structure nonlinearly damped for the IFF model, are developed for a specific experimental submerged-sphere mooring system under ocean waves exhibiting such highly nonlinear response behaviors. In Part 2, using the measured input wave and output system response data, the algorithms derived based on the MI/SO linear analysis of the reverse dynamic systems are applied to identify the properties of the highly nonlinear system. Practical issues on the application of the R-MI/SO technique based on limited available experimental data are addressed.

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