Hydrodynamic Coefficients of Simplified Subsea Structures

Simplified two-dimensional models, representing components of complex subsea structures, are experimentally investigated. Individual as well as combinations of components in different configurations are tested, in order to study the effect of hydrodynamic interaction. The components include porous plates and cylindrical pipes with circular cross-section. Hydrodynamic added mass and damping coefficients, relevant for force estimation during lifting operations, are presented. The coefficients are obtained based on forced oscillation tests for a large range of Keulegan–Carpenter (KC) numbers and forcing periods, and compared to numerical source panel results for the low KC limit, as well as recommendations given by DNV GL, where relevant. Coefficients for all configurations are found to be highly amplitude dependent. Significant interaction effects are found for the assembled structures, causing either reduced or increased total added mass and damping coefficients compared to the super-position of the coefficients for individual members.

Validation and Development of Improved Methods for the Calculation of Wave Loads on XXL Monopiles

With the offshore wind industry aiming to deploy deeper water sites (> 30 m) while still utilizing monopiles, support structures with larger diameters are required. For the design and assessment of so-called XXL monopiles, wave-induced forces, which become more dominant with increasing diameter, have to be determined accurately. Thus, this study focuses on the identification of differences between state-of-the-art theories for wave load calculations with engineering models and the forces exerted on large monopiles from high-precision numerical reference methods. Within the framework of the research project TANDEM (Towards an Advanced Design of Large Monopiles) a 7 m diameter monopile is designed to support Fraunhofer’s IWT-7.5-164. This offshore wind turbine system is used as reference to determine wave-induced loads based on the MacCamy-Fuchs approach, implemented in models in Modelica. Different waves, defined in a simulation matrix, are investigated to elaborate the significance of diffraction effects, as well as the relevance of non-linear effects. The results are compared to CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations. Deviations in the wave-induced forces are analyzed, taking into account the different capabilities of the applied tools, trends in the applicability of the engineering model are elaborated, and suggestions for improvement of the code based on state-of-the-art theories are given.

Experimental Study on Flexible Bare Pipe Arrays Undergoing Vortex-Induced Vibrations

Vortex-induced vibration (VIV) excited by current is a major contributor to the fatigue accumulation of marine risers. For deepwater operations, several risers are often arranged together in an array configuration. In this study, a set of four identical flexible pipes of a rectangular arrangement were tested in a water tunnel. By comparing the dynamic responses of a pipe in an array with that of a single isolated pipe, the effects of the current speed and the center-to-center distance between the up-stream and downstream pipes on their dynamic responses were investigated. Fatigue damages accumulated on each pipe in an array was calculated and a factor, termed “fatigue damage amplification factor”, was defined as a ratio between the fatigue damage rate of pipe in an array and the fatigue damage rate of a single pipe at a same current condition. The results showed that for bare pipes (i.e., without helical strakes), the downstream pipes in an array configuration may have larger dynamic responses and fatigue damage rates than those of a single pipe; and, it is not always conservative to assume that the fatigue damage rate estimated for a single pipe can be used to represent the fatigue damage rates of pipes in an array. This preliminary study provided some meaningful results for the design, analysis and operation of marine riser arrays.

A Flexible Connector Design for Multi-Modular Floating Structures

The paper aims to provide a novel flexible connector model for the connection of a multi-modular floating platform. The structural model of the connector is presented. To evaluate connector loads, the governing equation for a modularized floating platform is established using the Rigid Module Flexible Connector (RMFC) model. The dynamic analysis for a two-module floating platform is carried out by using the frequency domain approach in random waves and the extreme loads of the flexible connector are estimated. The finite element method is applied for strength and stiffness analysis to assess the performance of the connector.

Structural Dynamic Analysis of a Tidal Current Turbine Using MBDyn

In recent years, tidal current energy has gained wide attention for its abundant resource and environmentally friendly production. This study focuses on analyzing dynamic behavior of a three-bladed vertical axis tidal current turbine. The multibody dynamics code MBDyn is used in the numerical simulation. It performs the integrated simulation and analysis of nonlinear mechanical, aeroelastic, hydraulic and control problems by numerical integration. In this study, tidal current turbine is idealized as an assembly of flexible beams including axis of rotation, arms and blades. We firstly conduct a modal analysis on the tidal current turbine and validate the model with the results obtained by ANSYS. The natural frequencies of blades with different size parameters are compared and the corresponding mode shapes are presented. Next, a parametric study was performed to investigate the effect of internal force on the dynamic response. It is concluded that the proposed method is accurate and efficient for structural analysis of tidal current turbine and this flexible multibody model can be used in the fluid-structure-interaction analysis in the future.

Damage Detection of Offshore Platform Mooring Line Using Artificial Neural Network

Station-keeping using mooring lines is an important part of the design of floating offshore platforms, and has been used on most types of floating platforms, such as Spar, Semi-submersible, and FPSO. It is of great interest to monitor the integrity of the mooring lines to detect any damaged and/or failures. This paper presents a method to train an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model for damage detection of mooring lines based on a patented methodology that uses detection of subtle shifts in the long drift period of a moored floating vessel as an indicator of mooring line failure, using only GPS monitoring. In case of an FPSO, the total mass or weight of the vessel is also used as a variable. The training of the ANN model employs a back-propagation learning algorithm and an automatic method for determination of ANN architecture. The input variables of the ANN model can be derived from the monitored motion of the platform by GPS (plus vessel’s total mass in case of an FPSO), and the output of the model is the identification of a specific damaged mooring line. The training and testing of the ANN model use the results of numerical analyses for a semi-submersible offshore platform with twenty mooring lines for a range of metocean conditions. The training data cover the cases of intact mooring lines and a damaged line for two selected adjacent lines. As an illustration, the evolution of the model at various training stages is presented in terms of its accuracy to detect and identify a damaged mooring line. After successful training, the trained model can detect with great fidelity and speed the damaged mooring line. In addition, it can detect accurately the damaged mooring line for sea states that are not included in the training. This demonstrates that the model can recognize and classify patterns associated with a damaged mooring line and separate them from patterns of intact mooring lines for sea states that are and are not included in the training. This study demonstrates a great potential for the use of a more general and comprehensive ANN model to help monitor the station keeping integrity of a floating offshore platform and the dynamic behavior of floating systems in order to forecast problems before they occur by detecting deviations in historical patterns.

Drilling Riser Disconnection Challenges in Ultra-Deep Water

With the extension of the offshore drilling operations to water depths of 10,000 ft and beyond, the technical challenges involved also increased considerably. In this context, the management of the riser integrity through the application of computational simulations is capital to a safe and successful operation — particularly in harsh environments. One of the main challenges associated with keeping the system under safe limits is the recoil behavior in case of a disconnection from the well. The risk that an emergency disconnect procedure can take place during the campaign is imminent, either due to failure of the dynamic positioning system or due to extreme weather in such environments. Recent work [1] in the field of drilling riser dynamic analysis has shown that the recoil behavior of the riser after a disconnection from the bottom can be one of the main drivers of the level of top tension applied. Tension fluctuations can be very large as the vessel heaves, especially in ultra-deep waters where the average level of top tension is already very high. In order to be successful, a safe disconnection must ensure that the applied top tension is sufficient for the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) to lift over the Blow-Out Preventer (BOP) with no risk of interference between the two. This tension should also not exceed a range in which the riser will not buckle due to its own recoil, that the telescopic joint will not collapse and transfer undesirable loads onto the drilling rig or that the tensioning lines will not compress. A good representation of such behavior in computational simulations is therefore very relevant to planning of the drilling campaign. A case study is presented herein, in which a recoil analysis was performed for a water depth of 11,483ft (3,500m). Numerical simulations using a finite element based methodology are applied for solving the transient problem of the riser disconnection in the time domain using a regular wave approach. A detailed hydro-pneumatic tensioning system model is incorporated to properly capture the effect of the anti-recoil valve closure and tension variations relevant during the disconnection. A reduction of conservativism is applied for the regular wave approach, where the maximum vessel heave likely to happen in every 50 waves is applied instead of the usual maximum in 1000 waves approach. ISO/TR 13624-2 [4] states that using the most probable maximum heave in 1000 waves is considered very conservative, as the event of the disconnection takes place in a very short period of time. The challenges inherent to such an extreme site are presented and conclusions are drawn on the influence of the overall level of top tension in the recoil behavior.

Low Frequency Excitation and Damping of Four MODUs in Severe Seastates With Current

Model tests have been performed with four mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) with the aim of identifying wave drift forces and low frequency damping. The MODUs configuration is different, namely on the number and diameter of columns, therefore the sample is representative of many of the existing concepts. The model scale is the same as well as the wave and current conditions. The experimental program includes irregular waves with systematic variations of the significant wave height, wave peak period, current velocity and vessel heading. The test data is post-processed to identify the surge and sway quadratic transfer functions (QTFs) of the slowly varying excitation, together with the linearized low frequency damping. The post-processing applies a nonlinear data analysis technique known as “cross-bi-spectral analysis” to estimate characteristics of second-order (quadratic) responses from the measured motions and undisturbed incident wave elevation. The empirical QTFs are then compared with numerical predictions to conclude on the role of viscous drift and the applicability of Newman’s approximation for calculation of drift forces in irregular waves. Finally, the empirical drift forces, empirical low frequency damping coefficients and low frequency motions statistics are compared for the three MODUs to conclude on the relation between the Semi configuration and the low frequency responses.

Discussions on the Convergence of the Seakeeping Simulations Based on the Panel Methods

Numerical problems related to the convergence of the classical panel methods which are employed for the diffraction-radiation simulations are discussed. It is well known that, for the panel methods, the convergence issues are not exclusively related to the physical parameters (wave length, body shape, draught ...) but also to the one purely numerical phenomenon which occurs when the Boundary Integral Equation Method (BIEM) based on the use of Kelvin (wave) type Green’s function is used. Indeed, due to the fact that the Green’s function satisfies the free surface condition in the whole fluid domain below z = 0, the numerical solution is polluted, at some particular frequencies, by the solution of the unphysical problem inside the body. This phenomenon which is purely numerical, is known as the problem of irregular frequencies. From practical point of view, it is not always easy to distinguish if the irregularities in the final solution are coming, from the body mesh which is not fine enough, from the physical resonance of the system, from the problem of irregular frequencies or from something else!? In this paper the authors discuss these issues in the context of the evaluation of the seakeeping behavior of one typical FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading). Both the linear (first order) as well as the second order quantities are of concern and the different methods for the elimination of the irregular frequencies are discussed. Special attention is given to the calculations of the different physical quantities at very high frequencies. The numerical tool used within this research is the Bureau Veritas numerical code HYDROSTAR which is based on the panel method with singularities of constant strength.

DP-Stability During Heavy Lift Operations Using a Modified Kalman Filter

During heavy lift operations, staying on position using a Dynamic Positioning (DP) system offers many advantages compared with a mooring system. However, when the vessel is connected to another fixed or floating object during the lifting operation through its hoist wires it may experience instabilities in the DP-system. These DP-instabilities are caused by the inability of the DP system to handle the relatively stiff external spring of the hoist wire correctly. This phenomenon is well known and mitigating measures such as Heavy Lift Mode have been developed over the years that work well for stationary vessels. However, when two vessels are lifting a single object together (e.g. QUAD lift), existing solutions to prevent this DP-instability are insufficient, as the nature of such lift requires a synchronous move on DP. During studies to the fundamental behavior of a DP system during heavy lift operations it is found that modifications to the Kalman filter can prevent these DP-instabilities. Heerema Marine Contractors presented the DP-stability challenges to Kongsberg Maritime, and a joint effort resulted in an implementation of a modified Kalman filter in the Kongsberg Maritime DP system. Also a dedicated engineering analysis to predict risk of DP-instabilities for specific lift configurations has been developed. The modified DP-system is tested in large number of simulations (both desktop and a full mission simulator) to test the ability of the updated DP-system to deal with a wide range of specific heavy lift conditions. Results were evaluated between Heerema office, Kongsberg and offshore personnel for developing the optimum Kalman filter parameters. Finally, the system is tested during a dedicated DP-trial program onboard Thialf. As the results of all these tests were very successful, the new High Kalman filter was made available onboard Thialf as a permanent option next to the original functionalities. The paper addresses the steps followed to define the new Kalman filter settings, the simulations performed to test the new filter as well as to show results of the offshore tests that were done to validate the numerical analysis.