On the Validity of CFD for Simulating a Shallow Water CALM Buoy in Extreme Waves

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Bandringa ◽  
Frédérick Jaouën ◽  
Joop Helder ◽  
Tim Bunnik
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Validation Study ◽  
Water Waves ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Correct Prediction ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Extreme Waves ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Cross Terms

Abstract The Catenary Anchor-Leg Mooring (CALM) is the most popular and widely-used type of offshore loading terminal. A CALM buoy consists of a floating buoy anchored to the seabed by catenary chain legs which are secured to anchors or piles. Due to the small inertia of CALM buoys, the mooring line responses are very sensitive to waves and considerable fatigue risk is introduced to the mooring lines. Extreme waves may even lead to mooring line failure. Therefore it is highly relevant to study the motions of the CALM buoy in (extreme) wave conditions. This paper presents a validation study of a coupled CFD – dynamic mooring model for simulating the response of a shallow water CALM buoy in extreme waves (Figure 1). Simulations of an interactively moving CALM buoy in a horizontal mooring system were performed by coupling a Navier-Stokes based finite-volume, VoF CFD solver with a dynamic mooring model. The CFD results are validated against model tests performed in MARIN’s shallow-water basin during the ComFLOW-2 joint industry project. The validation study concentrates on the correct prediction of the coupled responses of the CALM buoy in extreme, regular shallow-water waves. As an alternative to simulations with a fully coupled dynamic mooring set-up, also CFD simulations are presented in which the mooring system is represented by a linearly equivalent spring matrix, including cross terms. The importance of correctly modelling these cross terms is presented in the paper, and the results obtained with- and without these off-diagonal spring terms are compared.

scholarly journals Transient Responses Evaluation of FPSO with Different Failure Scenarios of Mooring Lines

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Dongsheng Qiao ◽  
Binbin Li ◽  
Jun Yan ◽  
Yu Qin ◽  
Haizhi Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Service Condition ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Transient Effects ◽  
Floating Platform ◽  
Transient Responses ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Performance Deterioration ◽  
Steady State Responses ◽  
Influence Process

During the long-term service condition, the mooring line of the deep-water floating platform may fail due to various reasons, such as overloading caused by an accidental condition or performance deterioration. Therefore, the safety performance under the transient responses process should be evaluated in advance, during the design phase. A series of time-domain numerical simulations for evaluating the performance changes of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) with different broken modes of mooring lines was carried out. The broken conditions include the single mooring line or two mooring lines failure under ipsilateral, opposite, and adjacent sides. The resulting transient and following steady-state responses of the vessel and the mooring line tensions were analyzed, and the corresponding influence mechanism was investigated. The accidental failure of a single or two mooring lines changes the watch circle of the vessel and the tension redistribution of the remaining mooring lines. The results indicated that the failure of mooring lines mainly influences the responses of sway, surge, and yaw, and the change rule is closely related to the stiffness and symmetry of the mooring system. The simulation results could give a profound understanding of the transient-effects influence process of mooring line failure, and the suggestions are given to account for the transient effects in the design of the mooring system.

Validation of Mooring Simulations (for Mooring Integrity Assessment) With In-Service Tension Measurements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willemijn Pauw ◽  
Remco Hageman ◽  
Joris van den Berg ◽  
Pieter Aalberts ◽  
Hironori Yamaji ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Models ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Motion Data ◽  
Load Cells ◽  
Line Loads

Abstract Integrity of mooring system is of high importance in the offshore industry. In-service assessment of loads in the mooring lines is however very challenging. Direct monitoring of mooring line loads through load cells or inclinometers requires subsea installation work and continuous data transmission. Other solutions based on GPS and motion monitoring have been presented as solutions to overcome these limitations [1]. Monitoring solutions based on GPS and motion data provide good practical benefits, because monitoring can be conducted from accessible area. The procedure relies on accurate numerical models to model the relation between global motions and response of the mooring system. In this paper, validation of this monitoring approach for a single unit will be presented. The unit under consideration is a turret-moored unit operating in Australia. In-service measurements of motions, GPS and line tensions are available. A numerical time-domain model of the mooring system was created. This model was used to simulate mooring line tensions due to measured FPSO motions. Using the measured unit response avoids the uncertainty resulting from a prediction of the hydrodynamic response. Measurements from load cells in various mooring lines are available. These measurements were compared against the results obtained from the simulations for validation of the approach. Three different periods, comprising a total of five weeks of data, were examined in more detail. Two periods are mild weather conditions with different dominant wave directions. The third period features heavy weather conditions. In this paper, the data set and numerical model are presented. A comparison between the measured and numerically calculated mooring line forces will be presented. Differences between the calculated and measured forces are examined. This validation study has shown that in-service monitoring of mooring line loads through GPS and motion data provides a new opportunity for mooring integrity assessment with reduced monitoring system complexity.

Research on the Arrangement of the Mooring Lines of the Thruster Assisted Mooring System

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Zou ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Feng Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Time Domain Simulation ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Dynamic Positioning System ◽  
Optimum Arrangement ◽  
Line Angle ◽  
Mooring Forces ◽  
Offshore Industry

As the offshore industry is developing into deeper and deeper water, station keeping technics are becoming more and more important to the industry. Based on the dynamic positioning system, the thruster assisted mooring system (TAMS) is developed, which consisted of mooring lines and thrusters. The main function of the TAMS is to hold a structure against wind wave and current loads with its thruster and cables, which is mainly evaluated by the holding capacity of the system. The arrangement of the mooring lines (location of anchor or the mooring line angle relative to platform) will directly affect the TAMS holding capacity because of the influence of the directions of the mooring forces. So finding out an optimum arrangement of the mooring lines is essential since the performance of the TAMS depends greatly on the arrangement of the mooring lines. The TAMS of a semi-submersible platform, which is studied in this paper, consisted of eight mooring lines. By fixing the layout of the thrusters and changing the location of each mooring line for every case, the performances of the TAMS are analyzed. The platform motions, mooring line tensions and power consumptions are compared to obtain the optimum arrangement of mooring lines, and thus a thruster assisted mooring system with a better performance can be achieved. Time domain simulation is carried out in this paper to obtain the results.

Sensitivity of Mooring Line Pretension in the Design Cycle for Floating Caissons

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adinarayana Mukkamala ◽  
Partha Chakrabarti ◽  
Subrata K. Chakrabarti
Keyword(s):  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
System Design ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Design Cycle ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Tacoma Narrows Bridge ◽  
System Layout

The new parallel Tacoma Narrows Bridge being constructed by Tacoma Narrows Constructors will be mounted on two towers and these towers in turn will be supported by reinforced concrete caissons referred to as East Caisson (Tacoma side) and West Caisson (Gig Harbor side). Each Caisson is towed to the location and several stages of construction will take place at the actual site. During construction, the floating caissons will be moored in place to hold it against the flood and ebb currents in the Narrows. During the mooring system design, a desired pretension is established for the lines at each draft. However, due to practical limitations in the field some variations to this design pretension value may be expected. It is important to study the effect of this variation on the overall performance of the mooring system. In this paper, the sensitivity of the mooring line pretension on the overall performance of the mooring system for the above caisson is presented. During this study, all the variables that affect the mooring system design such as mooring system layout, mooring line makeup, anchor positions, fairlead departure angles, and fairlead locations are kept constant. The only variable changed is the pretension of the mooring lines. Two approaches for defining the variations in the pretension have been studied in this paper. In the first approach, the pretension is changed in a systematic way (predicted approach). In the second method the pretension is changed randomly. The latter is considered more likely to occur in the field for this type of complex mooring system. Both sets of results are presented for some selected drafts attained by the caisson during its construction. The difference in the results from the two methods is discussed.

Contribution of the Mooring System to the Low-Frequency Motions of a Semisubmersible in Combined Wave and Current

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amany M. A. Hassan ◽  
Martin J. Downie ◽  
Atilla Incecik ◽  
R. Baarholm ◽  
P. A. Berthelsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Damping Ratio ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Current Field ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Low Frequency Motion

This paper presents the results of an experiment carried out on a semi-submersible model to measure the steady drift force and low frequency surge motions. In the experiments, the influence of mooring systems was also investigated in different combinations of current and sea state. The measurements were carried out with a 1/50 scale model which was moored using horizontal springs and catenary mooring lines. A comparative study of the mean values of steady drift motions and the standard deviation of the low frequency motion amplitudes is presented. In addition, the effect of current on the damping ratio is discussed. It is found that for both horizontal and catenary moorings, the presence of a current increases the damping ratio of the system. For the catenary mooring system, as expected, the presence of mooring lines and their interaction with waves and current increases the damping compared to the damping of the horizontal mooring system. The measured mean values of the surge motions in a wave–current field are compared to the superposed values of those obtained from waves and current separately. For the horizontal mooring, it is found that there is good agreement in moderate sea states, while in higher sea states the measured motion responses are larger. In the wave-current field, the standard deviation of the surge motion amplitudes is found to be less than that obtained in waves alone. This can be explained by the increased magnitude of the damping ratio. Only in the cases of high sea states with the horizontal mooring system, was it found that the standard deviation of the surge motions is slightly larger than those obtained for waves and current separately. This may be explained by the absence of catenary mooring line damping.

scholarly journals Proposal of a Novel Mooring System Using Three-Bifurcated Mooring Lines for Spar-Type Off-Shore Wind Turbines

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (24) ◽  
pp. 8303
Author(s):  
Shi Liu ◽  
Yi Yang ◽  
Chengyuan Wang ◽  
Yuangang Tu ◽  
Zhenqing Liu
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Line Length ◽  
Torsional Stiffness ◽  
Irregular Waves ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Floating Wind Turbine

Floating wind turbine vibration controlling becomes more and more important with the increase in wind turbine size. Thus, a novel three-bifurcated mooring system is proposed for Spar-type floating wind turbines. Compared with the original mooring system using three mooring lines, three-bifurcated sub-mooring-lines are added into the novel mooring system. Specifically, each three-bifurcated sub-mooring-line is first connected to a Spar-type platform using three fairleads, then it is connected to the anchor using the main mooring line. Six fairleads are involved in the proposed mooring system, theoretically resulting in larger overturning and torsional stiffness. For further improvement, a clump mass is attached onto the main mooring lines of the proposed mooring system. The wind turbine surge, pitch, and yaw movements under regular and irregular waves are calculated to quantitatively examine the mooring system performances. A recommended configuration for the proposed mooring system is presented: the three-bifurcated sub-mooring-line and main mooring line lengths should be (0.0166, 0.0111, 0.0166) and 0.9723 times the total mooring line length in the traditional mooring system. The proposed mooring system can at most reduce the wind turbine surge movement 37.15% and 54.5% when under regular and irregular waves, respectively, and can at most reduce the yaw movement 30.1% and 40% when under regular and irregular waves, respectively.

scholarly journals Alternative Mooring Systems for a Very Large Offshore Wind Turbine Supported by a Semisubmersible Floating Platform

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinsong Liu ◽  
Lance Manuel
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
System Response ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Floating Platform ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Wind Speeds

As offshore wind turbines supported on floating platforms extend to deep waters, the various effects involved in the dynamics, especially those resulting from the influence of moorings, become significant when predicting the overall integrated system response. The combined influence of waves and wind affect motions of the structure and induce tensile forces in mooring lines. The investigation of the system response under misaligned wind-wave conditions and the selection of appropriate mooring systems to minimize the turbine, tower, and mooring system loads is the subject of this study. We estimate the 50-year return response of a semisubmersible platform supporting a 13.2 MW wind turbine as well as mooring line forces when the system is exposed to four different wave headings with various environmental conditions (wind speeds and wave heights). Three different mooring system patterns are presented that include 3 or 6 mooring lines with different interline angles. Performance comparisons of the integrated systems may be used to define an optimal system for the selected large wind turbine.

Study on Weight Control Methods of Single Point Mooring System of FPSO in Deepwater

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Hongtao ◽  
Zeng Ji ◽  
Chen Gang ◽  
Mo Jian ◽  
Zhao Nan
Keyword(s):  
Weight Control ◽  
Linear Time ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Line Tension ◽  
Coupled Analysis ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Control Methods ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Mooring Lines

This paper applies 3D potential theory and non-linear time domain coupled analysis method to analyze motion response of FPSO and dynamic response of mooring line of single mooring system. In addition, respectively to calculate mooring line tension of tension type and composite mooring line type and added buoy in mooring line. There the paper analyze different mooring lines to affect on the weight of single point mooring system of deepwater FPSO. Which expects to provide a theoretical basis for single point mooring system design and weight control.

scholarly journals Dynamic Response for a Submerged Floating Offshore Wind Turbine with Different Mooring Configurations

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yane Li ◽  
Conghuan Le ◽  
Hongyan Ding ◽  
Puyang Zhang ◽  
Jian Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Response ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Dynamic Responses ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Intermediate Water ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbine

The paper discusses the effects of mooring configurations on the dynamic response of a submerged floating offshore wind turbine (SFOWT) for intermediate water depths. A coupled dynamic model of a wind turbine-tower-floating platform-mooring system is established, and the dynamic response of the platform, tensions in mooring lines, and bending moment at the tower base and blade root under four different mooring configurations are checked. A well-stabilized configuration (i.e., four vertical lines and 12 diagonal lines with an inclination angle of 30°) is selected to study the coupled dynamic responses of SFOWT with broken mooring lines, and in order to keep the safety of SFOWT under extreme sea-states, the pretension of the vertical mooring line has to increase from 1800–2780 kN. Results show that the optimized mooring system can provide larger restoring force, and the SFOWT has a smaller movement response under extreme sea-states; when the mooring lines in the upwind wave direction are broken, an increased motion response of the platform will be caused. However, there is no slack in the remaining mooring lines, and the SFOWT still has enough stability.

Optimal Design Methodology for Multi-Component Mooring Systems in Deep Water

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Long Yu ◽  
Jiahua Tan
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Design ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Element Model ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Restoring Force

Multi-component mooring systems, one of the crucial equipments of offshore platforms, play an important role in deep water oil&gas production because of relative low cost and light weight. A single mooring line can be constructed by combination of wire ropes, chains, fiber ropes, buoys and connectors etc. and provide adequate restoring force at fairlead point of platforms. Although the static and dynamic analyzing approaches for a determined multi-component system have been studied already, it is still hard to design and predetermine an appropriate mooring system that can satisfy the codes with multi-component lines. Referred to the conventional mooring system design method, this paper brings out an optimal design methodology for multi-component mooring systems. According to quasi-static method, at extreme offset position of the platform, an optimization model for designing the multi-component mooring line with biggest tension in deep water has been provided. Then, with the aid of design wave method and morison equation, a finite element model has been used to calculate mooring line dynamics at each fairlead point in time domain. The nonlinear interaction of mooring lines and seabed has also been investigated. Heave and surge of the platform have also been considered. Both 2D and 3D mooring system models have been built to search the interference of the lines and directional influence of environment loads like current and wave. The paper applied this set of analyzing methods and processes into a deep water semisubmersible serving at South China Sea. Compared with the results calculated by other software, the methodology mentioned in the paper got similar result with less weight and bigger restoring force.

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