Resonant Vibrations of Riser Guide Tubes Due to Wave Impact

Author(s):  
Arne Nestega˚rd ◽  
Arve Johan Kalleklev ◽  
Kjell Hagatun ◽  
Yu Lin Wu ◽  
Sverre Haver ◽  
...  

The Kristin platform is a catenary moored semi-submersible production vessel (SSPV) intended for production of gas at the Kristin field at Haltenbanken. Kristin has 24 riser guide tubes for tie in of flexible risers, umbilicals and electric cables to the riser balcony. The riser guide tubes (RGT) provide the necessary guiding, support and protection for risers and cables. The guide tubes run vertically from the deck and through the extended east pontoon. The guide tubes are welded to the pontoon and horizontally supported at the underside of the balcony deck. During model tests of the Kristin platform performed in the Ocean Basin laboratory at Marintek, high frequency in-line vibrations of the RGTs were observed during passage of steep waves. The resonance period for the individual RGTs is 0.3 sec. To mitigate the vibration problem, a vibration suppression arrangement of stiff rods was introduced between the guide tubes. Model tests were performed with respect to extreme- and fatigue loads in regular and irregular waves, with and without the suppression arrangement. The model included the floating framework representing the hull and the 24 RGTs with correct diameter and resonance period. The model was suspended in a horizontal mooring system, giving resonance periods in surge and sway close to the prototype platform. A load-response model for the interaction between large steep waves and vertical flexible cylinders has been developed. A slender body load model derived from Morison’s equation is shown to be able to excite the resonant vibrations. The dominant part of the loading comes from the rapid change of added mass momentum, giving rise to an additional slamming term in the load formulation. The structural response is calculated from a recognized non-linear slender body response program. Numerical simulations have been carried out and compared with model tests for both regular and irregular waves. The numerical predictions confirm the effect observed in the model tests; i.e. connecting the tubes generally leads to a reduction of the high frequency response amplitudes.

Author(s):  
Thomas B. Johannessen

Offshore structures such as the TLP or the GBS have natural frequencies which are much higher than the frequencies of the incident waves in the survival conditions. Nevertheless, many offshore structures experience significant resonant response of modes with periods in the range of 2s to 5s, particularly in steep waves. In particular the ringing response of offshore structures characterised by sudden, large and isolated resonant response packets, has been a concern for many years. The loads which give rise to these events are difficult to describe both because they are small in magnitude relative to the load level close to the wave spectral peak and also because they are nonlinear in nature. In the present paper, available theoretical methods for high frequency loading is employed for irregular waves and compared with model tests. The methods which are used in the present are first and second order diffraction methods as well as a third order loading model for slender cylinders applied to irregular waves with continuous wave spectra. The results are compared with measurements of tether response and overturning moments on a TLP and a GBS respectively. Provided that the incident waves are treated carefully and care is taken in treating the high frequency tail of the incident wave, it is found that methods which are presently available give a good representation of the resonant response for the GBS structure. The GBS structure has a relatively low natural frequency and a mode shape which is excited easily by horizontal loading in the surface zone. In contrast, weakly nonlinear theory does not capture the high frequency loading on a TLP which has resonant frequencies at more than five times the spectral peak in the survival seastates. For this case it is found that wave impact with both the columns and the deck gives significant contributions to the resonant tether response. This is the case even if no significant horizontal deck impact is observed and highlights the need for a reliable deck impact load model.


Author(s):  
Rafael Vergara Schiller ◽  
Csaba Pâkozdi ◽  
Carl Trygve Stansberg ◽  
Douglas Gustavo Takashi Yuba ◽  
Daniel Fonseca de Carvalho e Silva

This paper presents a series of numerical analyses performed with the potential theory-based Green Water engineer tool KINEMA3. KINEMA3 was designed to predict wave-induced impact loads on FPSOs in steep irregular waves, and for use in design load analysis. The purpose of the study presented herein is to validate KINEMA3 green water (deck overtopping) predictions in nonlinear irregular waves with results from model tests performed at the TPN (Tanque de Provas Numérico) laboratory at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Comparisons are made for a selection of irregular wave cases, for two choices of anchoring conditions (free floating vessel and fixed vessel) and for three wave headings (180°, 225° and 270°: head, quartering and beam seas, respectively). KINEMA3 statistical green water predictions present a general good agreement with observations from the TPN model tests for all wave cases, headings and mooring conditions. Overall, observed trends for occurrence of green water and standard deviation/maximum of relative wave height are successfully reproduced by KINEMA3. In agreement with model test results, it is predicted that green water occurs more frequently for a free floating vessel and for beam seas. Additional comparisons between KINEMA3 predictions using different FPSO panel models (low-order and high-order models) present negligible differences with respect to green water estimates. The results presented herein demonstrate the robustness of the tool towards the prediction of green water for variable wave headings and sea states, and highlight the capability of KINEMA3 to be employed as an engineering-like tool for fast and multiple estimates of green water in early design studies. This work is a part of the research project “Green Water and Wave Impact on FPSO” carried out for and in cooperation with PETROBRAS.


Author(s):  
Nuno Fonseca ◽  
Galin Tahchiev ◽  
Sébastien Fouques ◽  
Carl Trygve Stansberg ◽  
José Miguel Rodrigues

Abstract Prediction of shallow water low frequency (LF) motions of vessels in the context of mooring analysis is challenging. Model tests are often performed to calibrate and validate numerical models and, in this way, reduce the uncertainty. Model tests are part of the positioning system qualifying process. However, model tests also present challenges and uncertainties related to parasitic low frequency wave systems which are unavoidable in shallow water ocean basin conditions. The paper presents model tests with a ship moored in shallow water (20 m), the analysis and discussion of the test data and comparisons with numerical predictions. The focus is on the low frequency motions and related wave drift forces. The tests have been performed in harmonic waves, bi-harmonic waves and irregular seastates, including conditions with and without current. The first part of the study consists of analysing the wave field measured by a long array of wave sensors distributed along the ocean basin. The analysis provides split wave systems, namely the low frequency components including the bound wave, the incoming free parasitic wave, the reflected component and additional very long waves. The second part proposes a method to calibrate and validate mooring analysis numerical models, based on comparisons with model test data which includes the unavoidable effects from parasitic waves. Simulations of LF motions with the calibrated model show a good agreement with the measurements.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haoyun Tang ◽  
Huilong Ren ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
Qi Zhong

The irregular wave condition, especially the oblique irregular wave condition, is the actual circumstances when trimaran is sailing in sea. In order to identify the characteristic of the wave-induced hydroelastic vibration in irregular waves, as well as investigate the change of vibration in different oblique irregular wave conditions, trimaran model tests were conducted to measure vibrations, wave impact, and motion under different azimuth and wave height. The vibration on main hull, side hull, and cross-desk is measured and analyzed separately to observe the influence of irregular wave in different structural parts. The longitudinal vibration, transverse vibration, and torsion are also included in the model tests measurement to investigate the relationship between these vibration deformation components and parameters of the irregular waves. The wave-induced hydroelastic vibrations and whipping effect is extracted and analyzed to find influence of whipping and springing on the total vibration. Based on the analysis, the dangerous positions and the critical waves condition is introduced to ensure that the subsequent structural strength assessment is more reliable.


Author(s):  
Emmanuel Guilmineau ◽  
Alban Leroyer ◽  
Michel Visonneau ◽  
Emmanuel Ory

Single Buoy Moorings (SBM) Offshore is a pioneer in the offshore and gas industry. Its product line is the supply of facilities and services for the development and production of offshore oil and gas fields as well as the systems relevant to the mooring technology at large. SBM is currently developing various concepts aimed at offloading LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) carriers offshore. These concepts whether they assume tandem or side-by-side offloading have in common a building block: the LNG carrier. Owing to its unusual shape (shallow draft, non wall sided hull at the waterline with a flared bow and a transom stern and the presence of a bulb just below the sea surface) at least compared to standard VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carrier), difficulties arise when performing diffraction calculations and when comparing model test results in monochromatic, bi-chromatic and irregular waves with numerical time domain simulations. The main objective is to identify whether differences between model tests and standard numerical predictions based on linear potential theory can be bridged in increasingly complex wave fields by resorting to CFD simulations. The CFD software used is ISIS-CFD, developed by the Numerical Modelling Group of the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory of Ecole Centrale de Nantes and distributed as commercial software by NUMECA International under the name FINE/Marine. CFD simulations have been performed in monochromatic head wave condition with and without the 4-line mooring system to prevent the LNG carrier from drifting away. The CFD method is described and a comparison between model tests and simulations is presented. CFD shows that it is able to predict the motions measured in model tests. In addition, both the wave frequency and the natural frequency of the mass spring system are correctly linked with the frequencies of the predicted motions.


Author(s):  
Sébastien Fouques ◽  
Csaba Pákozdi

Abstract The design of structures at sea requires knowledge on how large and steep waves can be. Although extreme waves are very rare, their consequences in terms of structural loads, such as wave impact or ringing, are critical. However, modelling the physical properties of steep waves along with their probability of occurrence in given sea states has remained a challenge. On the one hand, standard linear and weakly nonlinear wave theories are computationally efficient, but since they assume that the steepness parameter is small, they are unable to capture extreme waves. On the other hand, recent simulation methods based on CFD or fully nonlinear potential solvers are able to capture the physics of steep waves up to the onset on breaking, but their large computational cost makes it difficult to investigate rare events. Between these two extremes, the High-Order Spectral (HOS) method, which solves surface equations, is both efficient and able to capture highly nonlinear effects. It may then represent a good compromise for long simulations of steep waves. Unfortunately, it is based on a perturbation expansion where the small parameter is the wave steepness, and consequently, simulations tend to become unstable when steep wave events occur. In this work, we investigate the properties of irregular waves simulated with a modified HOS method, in which the sea surface is described with a Lagrangian representation, i.e. by computing the position and the velocity potential of individual surface particles. By doing so, nonlinear properties of the surface elevation are simply captured by the modulation of the horizontal and vertical particle motion. The same steep wave is then described more linearly with a Lagrangian representation, which reduces the instabilities of the HOS method. The paper focuses on bi-chromatic waves and irregular waves simulated from a JONSWAP spectrum. We compare simulations performed with the standard HOS and the modified Lagrangian methods for various HOS-orders.


Author(s):  
Jørgen Kvaleid ◽  
Volkert Oosterlaak ◽  
Tor Kvillum

For semi-submersible units, the magnitude of air gap or local wave impact in the survival condition is a key design driver. Linear analyses are widely used in the industry to predict survival air gap for semi-subs. Large relative motions, leading to large changes in shape of the submerged hull and large changes in water plane area make this approach questionable. In this paper, the GG5000 [1], a twin pontoon four legged semi-sub is considered. Both linear analyses and model tests had been performed, but the results were diverging. It was decided to investigate further, using non-linear hydrodynamic analyses. Initially, the model test setup is reproduced in the numerical model. The simulation model is verified for both response power spectra and extreme response distributions. In the non-linear simulations, the wetted surface of the hull is updated for each time step. Both excitation and restoring forces are based on the instantaneous wetted surface. This proves essential for the prediction of large motions. Later, the verified simulation model is run with realistic full scale setup including elastic catenary moorings with coupled cable dynamics, thruster assist, irregular waves and irregular wind. Highly non-linear effects proven to be vital to accurate air gap prediction are investigated and their representation in the non-linear analyses is validated against model tests.


Author(s):  
Xin Lu ◽  
Pankaj Kumar ◽  
Anand Bahuguni ◽  
Yanling Wu

The design of offshore structures for extreme/abnormal waves assumes that there is sufficient air gap such that waves will not hit the platform deck. Due to inaccuracies in the predictions of extreme wave crests in addition to settlement or sea-level increases, the required air gap between the crest of the extreme wave and the deck is often inadequate in existing platforms and therefore wave-in-deck loads need to be considered when assessing the integrity of such platforms. The problem of wave-in-deck loading involves very complex physics and demands intensive study. In the Computational Fluid Mechanics (CFD) approach, two critical issues must be addressed, namely the efficient, realistic numerical wave maker and the accurate free surface capturing methodology. Most reported CFD research on wave-in-deck loads consider regular waves only, for instance the Stokes fifth-order waves. They are, however, recognized by designers as approximate approaches since “real world” sea states consist of random irregular waves. In our work, we report a recently developed focused extreme wave maker based on the NewWave theory. This model can better approximate the “real world” conditions, and is more efficient than conventional random wave makers. It is able to efficiently generate targeted waves at a prescribed time and location. The work is implemented and integrated with OpenFOAM, an open source platform that receives more and more attention in a wide range of industrial applications. We will describe the developed numerical method of predicting highly non-linear wave-in-deck loads in the time domain. The model’s capability is firstly demonstrated against 3D model testing experiments on a fixed block with various deck orientations under random waves. A detailed loading analysis is conducted and compared with available numerical and measurement data. It is then applied to an extreme wave loading test on a selected bridge with multiple under-deck girders. The waves are focused extreme irregular waves derived from NewWave theory and JONSWAP spectra.


Author(s):  
Andrew Cornett

Many deck-on-pile structures are located in shallow water depths at elevations low enough to be inundated by large waves during intense storms or tsunami. Many researchers have studied wave-in-deck loads over the past decade using a variety of theoretical, experimental, and numerical methods. Wave-in-deck loads on various pile supported coastal structures such as jetties, piers, wharves and bridges have been studied by Tirindelli et al. (2003), Cuomo et al. (2007, 2009), Murali et al. (2009), and Meng et al. (2010). All these authors analyzed data from scale model tests to investigate the pressures and loads on beam and deck elements subject to wave impact under various conditions. Wavein- deck loads on fixed offshore structures have been studied by Murray et al. (1997), Finnigan et al. (1997), Bea et al. (1999, 2001), Baarholm et al. (2004, 2009), and Raaij et al. (2007). These authors have studied both simplified and realistic deck structures using a mixture of theoretical analysis and model tests. Other researchers, including Kendon et al. (2010), Schellin et al. (2009), Lande et al. (2011) and Wemmenhove et al. (2011) have demonstrated that various CFD methods can be used to simulate the interaction of extreme waves with both simple and more realistic deck structures, and predict wave-in-deck pressures and loads.


Author(s):  
William Hidding ◽  
Guillaume Bonnaffoux ◽  
Mamoun Naciri

The reported presence of one third of remaining fossil reserves in the Arctic has sparked a lot of interest from energy companies. This has raised the necessity of developing specific engineering tools to design safely and accurately arctic-compliant offshore structures. The mooring system design of a turret-moored vessel in ice-infested waters is a clear example of such a key engineering tool. In the arctic region, a turret-moored vessel shall be designed to face many ice features: level ice, ice ridges or even icebergs. Regarding specifically level ice, a turret-moored vessel will tend to align her heading (to weather vane) with the ice sheet drift direction in order to decrease the mooring loads applied by this ice sheet. For a vessel already embedded in an ice sheet, a rapid change in the ice drift direction will suddenly increase the ice loads before the weathervaning occurs. This sudden increase in mooring loads may be a governing event for the turret-mooring system and should therefore be understood and simulated properly to ensure a safe design. The paper presents ADWICE (Advanced Weathervaning in ICE), an engineering tool dedicated to the calculation of the weathervaning of ship-shaped vessels in level ice. In ADWICE, the ice load formulation relies on the Croasdale model. Ice loads are calculated and applied to the vessel quasi-statically at each time step. The software also updates the hull waterline contour at each time step in order to calculate precisely the locations of contact between the hull and the ice sheet. Model tests of a turret-moored vessel have been performed in an ice basin. Validation of the simulated response is performed by comparison with model tests results in terms of weathervaning time, maximum mooring loads, and vessel motions.


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