Mooring Chain Fatigue Assessment Methodology and Software of Williams Gulfstar 1 Spar Platform Using Comparison Between Field Measured Data and the Design Basis Information

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Chan (Y. C.) Park ◽  
Arun Antony ◽  
Hisham Moideen ◽  
Arada Jamnongpipatkul ◽  
Jinsang Hwang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Damage ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Measured Data ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Graphic User Interface ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Operating Life ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Mooring Chain

In 2014 Williams Companies delivered a Spar-based FPS to be used by the Hess Corporation for developing their “Tubular Bells” field as well as for future tiebacks for other developments. Tubular Bells is located in the Mississippi Canyon region of the Gulf of Mexico. The Spar hull is the ‘Classic hull form’, 584 ft (178 m) long, 85 ft (26 m) in diameter with 60 ft (18 m) hull freeboard. The mooring system consists of 9 mooring lines in 3 groups composed of a chain-polyester-chain configuration. This paper describes the tools and methodology Williams plans to use for assessing the fatigue damage of the mooring chain over the operating life of the platform. The basic plan is to collect field-measured data for parameters that impact mooring fatigue damage, such as: environmental conditions, Spar motions (particularly Vortex Induced Motions data) and mooring line tensions, then process that data with specialized software so it can be effectively compared to the applicable data that was used in the design of the mooring system for fatigue. A key element in the plan to compare the field data with the design data is new computer software developed specifically to process the field measured data and generate the field measured, fatigue design parameters on a regular basis and in a form that is readily comparable to the design data. Additionally, a graphic user interface in this software will provide a clear visualization of the Spar motions that is linked with the associated environmental conditions for the same time periods.

Sensitivity Analysis of Different Parameters of Taut Mooring System of a Truss Spar

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuang Kang ◽  
Rui Chang ◽  
Youwei Kang ◽  
Shanchuan Liu
Keyword(s):  
Design Parameters ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Spar Platform ◽  
Truss Spar Platform ◽  
Hole Position ◽  
Line Force ◽  
Truss Spar ◽  
Nonlinear Solutions

Abstract The taut mooring system is widely used for some advantages, such as smaller mooring radius, lighter total weight and better anti-corrosion performance. In this paper, the taut mooring system of a Truss Spar platform which was taken as the research object was investigated under the condition of 2000 m water depth in South China Sea. Firstly, the main body of the platform was analyzed in frequency domain based on the 3-d potential theory, and then the nonlinear solutions of platform displacement and mooring line force were obtained by using coupling analysis method in time domain, which determined the preliminary design parameters of mooring system. The sensitivity of the taut system is studied by changing several design parameters such as the top angle of mooring line, cable hole position and method of mooring disposal. In summary, the variation of the motion and dynamic response of the platform and mooring system has been explored and summarized by studying the design process and influential parameter of dynamic characteristics of mooring system and optimizing ideas of relevant parameters, which can further provide technical support and engineering reference for the design and application of the taut mooring system of deepwater Truss Spar platforms.

Parametric Study of Catenary Mooring System for a Semisubmersible Floating Wind Turbine in Intermediate Water Depth

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiawen Li ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Jiali Du ◽  
Yichen Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Reference Structure ◽  
Intermediate Water ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Floating Wind Turbine

Abstract This paper presents a parametric design study of the mooring system for a floating offshore wind turbine. We selected the OC4 DeepCwind semisubmersible floating wind turbine as the reference structure. The design water depth was 50 m, which was the transition area between the shallow and deep waters. For the floating wind turbine working in this water area, the restoring forces and moments provided by the mooring lines were significantly affected by the heave motion amplitude of the platform. Thus, the mooring design for the wind turbine in this working depth was different from the deep-water catenary mooring system. In this study, the chosen design parameters were declination angle, fairlead position, mooring line length, environmental load direction, and mooring line number. We conducted fully coupled aero-hydro dynamic simulations of the floating wind turbine system in the time domain to investigate the influences of different mooring configurations on the platform motion and the mooring tension. We evaluated both survival and accidental conditions to analyze the mooring safety under typhoon and mooring fail conditions. On the basis of the simulation results, this study made several design recommendations for the mooring configuration for floating wind turbines in intermediate water depth applied in China.

Effects of Mooring Line Design Parameters on the Line Dynamics and Fatigue Response of Subsea Mooring Lines

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Sedghi ◽  
Mehrdad Kimiaei
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Analysis ◽  
Fatigue Damage ◽  
Dynamic Responses ◽  
Statistical Characteristics ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Fatigue Design ◽  
Line Design

Dynamic characteristics of mooring lines play an important role in overall structural response and fatigue design of mooring systems. Full dynamic analysis including line dynamics is a vital part of fatigue design process although in time domain it needs excessive computational efforts. For fatigue analysis of mooring lines where hundreds of different environmental loads have to be checked, alternative analysis approach such as quasi-dynamic analysis with implicit inclusion of the line dynamic effects are used widely in engineering practice. This paper presents the results of series of case studies on the effects of various mooring line design parameters on the line dynamics as well as the mooring line dynamic fatigue response. Various mooring line composition types (all chain and chain-polyester-chain) used in different mooring configurations (catenary, semi-taut and taut) with variable range of mooring line pretensions connected to a floater in shallow and deep water depths are studied. Ratios of fatigue damage results between dynamic and quasi-dynamic results as well as the relation between fatigue damage and statistical characteristics of the line dynamic responses for different line configurations and load cases are investigated in detail.

Calculation Methodology of Out of Plane Bending of Mooring Chains

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. ter Brake ◽  
J. van der Cammen ◽  
R. Uittenbogaard
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Damage ◽  
Bending Moment ◽  
Local Stress ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Empirical Formulas ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Plane Bending ◽  
Chain Links ◽  
Mooring Chain

Recently, the phenomenon of out-of-plane bending (OPB) fatigue of mooring chain links emerged as an important parameter in the fatigue assessment of mooring lines. Vessel motions induce a bending moment at the top chain of a mooring line. This bending moment induces alternating local stresses in the link and thus contributes to fatigue damage of those links. High pretension mooring systems are particularly sensitive to this phenomenon, since a small vessel motion combined with a high tension results in a relatively large bending moment in the upper mooring chain links. In mooring systems with high pre-tensions, this damage is of much greater magnitude than the fatigue damage induced by tension-tension loading only. An extensive study has been executed to investigate the fatigue life of mooring chain in deep water systems. This paper presents the calculation procedure to include the effects of local chain bending in the overall mooring line fatigue analysis. It was concluded that despite the complexity of the OPB issue, it is a phenomenon that can be incorporated in the mooring analyses by means of numerical procedures. The developed method is based on extensive Finite Element Method (FEM) analyses of chain links. Models of multiple chain links have been used that take into account the plastic-elastic properties of the material and contact friction between chain links. The FE models are used to derive empirical relations, between load angles, interlink angles, bending moments and stresses. These calculations were made for different combinations of line tension, interlink friction and chain size. The results were stored in a database to gain insight in the out-of-plane bending phenomenon. This database provides empirical formulas to lead to the local stress in different points on a chain link. These empirical formulas are used to translate floater (vessel or buoy) motions into local stress variations and fatigue damages in chain links. The long-term motion behaviour of the floater is known, the long term tension and bending stress ranges can be obtained and thus a fatigue damage of the chain links can be calculated.

scholarly journals Fatigue Analysis of Deepwater Hybrid Mooring Line Under Corrosion Effect

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 68-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongsheng Qiao ◽  
Jun Yan ◽  
Jinping Ou
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Damage ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Line Tension ◽  
Chain Structure ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Load Spectrum ◽  
Sea State ◽  
Mooring Lines

Abstract In the deepwater exploitation of oil and gas, replacing the polyester rope by a wire in the chain-wire-chain mooring line is proved to be fairly economic, but this may provoke some corresponding problems. Te aim of this paper is to compare the fatigue damage of two mooring system types, taking into account corrosion effects. Using a semi-submersible platform as the research object, two types of mooring systems of the similar static restoring stiffness were employed. Te mooring lines had the chain-wire-chain and chain-polyester-chain structure, respectively. Firstly, the numerical simulation model between the semi-submersible platform and its mooring system was built. Te time series of mooring line tension generated by each short-term sea state of South China Sea S4 area were calculated. Secondly, the rain flow counting method was employed to obtain the fatigue load spectrum. Thirdly, the Miner linear cumulative law model was used to compare the fatigue damage of the two mooring system types in long-term sea state. Finally, the corrosion effects from zero to twenty years were considered, and the comparison between the fatigue damage of the two mooring system types was recalculated.

Wave-Induced Fatigue Damage of Mooring Chain Under Combined Non-Gaussian Low and Wave Frequency Loads

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Gao ◽  
Torgeir Moan
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Damage ◽  
Volterra Series ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Line Tension ◽  
Response Spectra ◽  
Wave Force ◽  
Wave Frequency ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Non Gaussian ◽  
Mooring Chain

This paper deals with the fatigue damage of catenary mooring chain under combined low frequency (LF) and wave frequency (WF) loads which are both non-Gaussian. The distribution of quasi-static LF mooring line tension is obtained by representing the slowly-varying wave force acting on the vessel as a second-order Volterra series and by taking into account the nonlinear relationship between the vessel motion and the resulting line tension. The dynamic WF tension distribution is estimated when both the drag and inertia forces on the mooring line are considered. Finally, with the narrow-band assumption for both the LF and WF response spectra, the total fatigue damage is approximated by the sum of the fatigue damages due to the WF tension process and the sum process of the WF tension envelope and the LF tension. The procedure is illustrated by considering of the mooring system of a semi-submersible. Short-term distributions of LF and WF line tensions are given and compared with the results from the linearized analyses with Gaussian tension. Relative LF and WF long-term contributions to the total fatigue damage from different sea states are also provided.

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.

North Sea Mooring Systems: How Reliable Are They?

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Brindley ◽  
Andrew P. Comley
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Recent Decade ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Failure Rates ◽  
Floating Structure ◽  
Strength Capacity ◽  
Failure Statistics ◽  
Overall Reliability

In recent years a number of high profile mooring failures have emphasised the high risk nature of this element of a floating structure. Semi-submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs) operating in the harsh North Sea environment have experienced approximately 3 mooring failures every 2 years, based on an average population of 34 units. In recognition of the high mooring failure rates, the HSE has introduced recommendations for more stringent mooring strength requirements for units operating on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) [17]. Although strength requirements are useful to assess the suitability of a mooring design, they do not provide an insight into the question: what is the reliability of the mooring system? This paper aims to answer this question by evaluating failure statistics over the most recent decade of available data. Mooring failure rates are compared between the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), the UKCS, and with industry code targets to understand how overall reliability is related to the strength capacity of a mooring system. The failure statistics suggest that a typical MODU operating in the UKCS would experience a mooring line failure in heavy weather approximately every 20 operating years. This failure rate appears to be several orders of magnitude greater than industry targets used to calibrate mooring codes. Despite the increased strength requirements for the NCS, failure rates do not appear to be lower than the UKCS. This suggests that reliability does not correlate well with mooring system strength. As a result, designing to meet the more rigorous HSE requirements, which would require extensive upgrades to existing units, may not significantly increase mooring system reliability. This conclusion needs to be supported with further investigation of failure statistics in both the UKCS and NCS. In general, work remains to find practical ways to further understand past failures and so improve overall reliability.

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.

Probabilistic Fatigue Assessment of a Mooring Line Based on Station-Keeping Trials in Ice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chana Sinsabvarodom ◽  
Bernt J. Leira ◽  
Wei Chai ◽  
Arvid Naess
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Damage ◽  
Probabilistic Models ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Stress Range ◽  
Station Keeping ◽  
Probability Models ◽  
Line System ◽  
Fatigue Assessment ◽  
Rainflow Counting

Abstract The intention of this work is to perform a probabilistic fatigue assessment of a mooring line due to loads associated with the station-keeping of a ship in ice. In March 2017, the company Equinor (Statoil) conducted full-scale tests by means of station-keeping trials (SKT) in drifting ice in the Bay of Bothnia. The vessel Magne Viking was employed in order to represent a supply vessel equipped with a mooring line system, and the realtime loading during the full-scale measurement was recorded. The second vessel Tor Viking was serving as an ice breaker in order to maintain the physical ice management activities with different ice-breaking schemes, i.e. square updrift pattern, round circle pattern, circular updrift pattern and linear updrift pattern. The fatigue degradation corresponding to these different patterns were investigated. The peaks and valleys of the mooring tension are determined using the min peak prominence method. For the purpose of probabilistic fatigue assessment, the Rainflow-counting algorithm is applied to estimate the mooring stress range. Fatigue assessment based both on Rainflow counting and fitted probabilistic models were performed. For the latter, the stress range distributions from the observed data of mooring loads are fitted to various probability models in order to estimate the fatigue damage. It is found that the stress ranges represented by application of the Weibull distribution for the probabilistic fatigue approach provides results of the fatigue damage most similar to the Rainflow counting approach. Among the different scenarios of Ice management schemes, the circular updrift pattern provides the lowest magnitude of the fatigue degradation.

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