Vortex-Induced Motion (VIM), which occurs as a consequence of exposure to strong current such as Loop Current eddies in the Gulf of Mexico, is one of the critical factors in the design of the mooring and riser systems for deepwater offshore structures such as Spars and multi-column Deep Draft Floaters (DDFs). The VIM response can have a significant impact on the fatigue life of mooring and riser components. In particular, Steel Catenary Risers (SCRs) suspended from the floater can be sensitive to VIM-induced fatigue at their mudline touchdown points.
Industry currently relies on scaled model testing to determine VIM for design. However, scaled model tests are limited in their ability to represent VIM for the full scale structure since they are generally not able to represent the full scale Reynolds number and also cannot fully represent waves effects, nonlinear mooring system behavior or sheared and unsteady currents. The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to simulate VIM can more realistically represent the full scale Reynolds number, waves effects, mooring system, and ocean currents than scaled physical model tests.
This paper describes a set of VIM CFD simulations for a Spar hard tank with appurtenances and their comparison against a high quality scaled model test. The test data showed considerable sensitivity to heading angle relative to the incident flow as well as to reduced velocity. The simulated VIM-induced sway motion was compared against the model test data for different reduced velocities (Vm) and Spar headings. Agreement between CFD and model test VIM-induced sway motion was within 9% over the full range of Vm and headings. Use of the Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES, Shur et al 2008) turbulence model gives the best agreement with the model test measurements. Guidelines are provided for meshing and time step/solver setting selection.
Comparisons of NBSHarvard VI simulations and full-scale, multi-room fire test data