scholarly journals A Comparison of Numerical Approaches for the Design of Mooring Systems for Wave Energy Converters

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imanol Touzon ◽  
Vincenzo Nava ◽  
Borja de Miguel ◽  
Victor Petuya

This paper analyses the numerical outcome of applying three different well-known mooring design approaches to a floating wave energy converter, moored by means of four catenary lines. The approaches include: a linearized frequency domain based on a quasistatic model of the mooring lines, a time domain approach coupled with an analytic catenary model of the mooring system, and a fully coupled non-linear time domain approach, considering lines’ drag and inertia forces. Simulations have been carried out based on a set of realistic combinations of lines pretension and linear mass, subject to extreme environmental conditions. Obtained results provide realistic cost and performance indicators, presenting a comparison in terms of total mooring mass and required footprint, as well as the design line tension and structure offset. It has been found that lines’ viscous forces influence significantly the performance of the structure with high pretensions, i.e., >1.2, while there is acceptable agreement between the modelling approaches with lower pretensions. Line tensions are significantly influenced by drag and inertia forces because of the occurrence of snap loads due to the heaving of the floater. However, the frequency domain approach provides an insight towards the optimal design of the mooring system for preliminary designs.

Author(s):  
Lin Li ◽  
Muk Chen Ong

The development of reliable fish farm structures for open seas becomes more and more important. One of the challenges is to design a robust structure to withstand the harsh offshore environmental loads. This paper investigates a semi-submersible type offshore fish farm system for open seas. This system consists of a semi-submersible support structure with pontoons and braces, a catenary mooring system and net cages. The support structure is designed to be rigid to resist severe offshore conditions. A preliminary hydrodynamic and response analysis is carried out for this concept. The linear hydrodynamic properties using different composite models with panel and Morison elements are computed. Based on the hydrodynamic analysis, linearised frequency-domain and coupled time-domain analysis are performed to predict the extreme motions of the support structure and the extreme tensions in the mooring lines. The results indicate that the frequency-domain method underestimates the extreme responses, and the couplings between the structure and the mooring system need to be considered in the time-domain. Responses using various hydrodynamic models are also compared to evaluate the influences of the viscous effects from the pontoons and the nets of this fish farm concept.


Author(s):  
Yuan Hongtao ◽  
Zeng Ji ◽  
Chen Gang ◽  
Mo Jian ◽  
Zhao Nan

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Wang ◽  
Abhilash Somayajula ◽  
Jeffrey Falzarano ◽  
Zhitian Xie

Traditional linear time-domain analysis is used widely for predicting the motions of floating structures. When it comes to a wave energy structure, which usually is subjected to larger relative (to their geometric dimensions) wave and motion amplitudes, the nonlinear effects become significant. This paper presents the development of an in-house blended time-domain program (SIMDYN). SIMDYN’s “blend” option improves the linear option by accounting for the nonlinearity of important external forces (e.g., Froude-Krylov). In addition, nonlinearity due to large body rotations (i.e., inertia forces) is addressed in motion predictions of wave energy structures. Forced motion analysis reveals the significance of these nonlinear effects. Finally, the model test correlations examine the simulation results from SIMDYN under the blended option, which has seldom been done for a wave energy structure. It turns out that the blended time-domain method has significant potential to improve the accuracy of motion predictions for a wave energy structure.


Author(s):  
Sojan Vasudevan ◽  
Paul Westlake

This paper presents the results of the analyses of a twelve line catenary mooring system using a quasi-static method in the frequency domain, and uncoupled and coupled dynamic methods in the time domain. The latter is found to produce significantly higher tensions. The reasons for these differences are investigated. The minimum line tension safety factors required by design codes do not distinguish between uncoupled and coupled dynamic analyses and some codes use the same factors even for quasi-static analyses. Consequently, the present mooring system passes the acceptance criteria based on quasistatic frequency domain and uncoupled dynamic time domain analyses but does not meet the same criteria when a coupled dynamic time domain analysis is employed. It is understood that because the coupled time domain analysis determines the vessel motions using all forces the accuracy of mooring line tension estimation will be improved over other methods. Hence the application of less conservative safety factors is proposed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 781
Author(s):  
Shi He ◽  
Aijun Wang

The numerical procedures for dynamic analysis of mooring lines in the time domain and frequency domain were developed in this work. The lumped mass method was used to model the mooring lines. In the time domain dynamic analysis, the modified Euler method was used to solve the motion equation of mooring lines. The dynamic analyses of mooring lines under horizontal, vertical, and combined harmonic excitations were carried out. The cases of single-component and multicomponent mooring lines under these excitations were studied, respectively. The case considering the seabed contact was also included. The program was validated by comparing with the results from commercial software, Orcaflex. For the frequency domain dynamic analysis, an improved frame invariant stochastic linearization method was applied to the nonlinear hydrodynamic drag term. The cases of single-component and multicomponent mooring lines were studied. The comparison of results shows that frequency domain results agree well with nonlinear time domain results.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 4083
Author(s):  
Kong ◽  
Liu ◽  
Su ◽  
Ao ◽  
Chen ◽  
...  

In this work the hydrodynamic performance of a novel wave energy converter configuration was analytically and numerically studied by combining a moonpool and a wave energy buoy, called the moonpool platform–wave energy buoy (MP–WEB). A potential flow, semi-analytical approach was adopted to assess the total (incident, diffraction, radiation) wave forces acting on the device, and the wave capture and energy efficiency performance of this configuration was assessed, both in the time and frequency domain. The performance of the two configurations, single float and double float, were analyzed and compared in terms of diffraction force, added mass radiation force, motion, and power in the frequency domain. Using an impulse response function-based (IRF) method, the frequency domain results were converted in the time domain. The same parameters in the time domain were derived and the main results were confirmed. Wave energy conversion efficiency was significantly increased due to the resonance phenomenon inside the moonpool.


Author(s):  
Gurumurthy Kagita ◽  
Mahesh B. Addala ◽  
Gudimella G. S. Achary ◽  
Subramanyam V. R. Sripada

Abstract In the mating phase of float-over operation, the topsides deck load from the vessel is transferred onto the jacket either by ballasting the vessel or by the combination of ballasting and hydraulic jacking system. During this phase of operation, the topsides and jacket experience impact loads through the contact points in a short duration of time. To evaluate the impact loads and to capture the transient effects precisely, a non-linear time domain hydrodynamic analysis is required. To obtain the design loads, generally the numerical jacking simulation is initiated at the time instant of maximum wave height when the jacking system is used. However, the conservative response may also depend on the relative velocity between the jacket and topsides legs. In this paper, a series of non-linear time domain as well as linear frequency domain hydrodynamic analyses are performed to evaluate the impact loads between 9000 tonne integrated topsides deck and a 4-legged jacket in a water depth of 50 m during float-over mating operation. The simulations are performed using MOSES software. The float-over hardware such as LMUs (leg mating unit), DSUs (deck support unit), Jacks, Fenders and Mooring lines are modelled as appropriate linear / nonlinear springs. The principle of the mating operation is considered through a combination of vessel ballasting and jacking operation. This paper discusses about random wave seed selection, effect of vessel response and wave headings on the impact loads of LMUs and Jacks/DSUs.


1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Goh

The convergence of learning control is traditionally analyzed in the time domain. This is because a finite planning horizon is often assumed and the analysis in time domain can be extended to time-varying and nonlinear systems. For linear time-invariant (LTI) systems with infinite planning horizon, however, we show that simple frequency domain techniques can be used to quickly derive several interesting results not amenable to time-domain analysis, such as predicting the rate of convergence or the design of optimum learning control law. We explain a paradox arising from applying the finite time convergence criterion to the infinite time learning control problem, and propose the use of current error feedback for controlling possibly unstable systems.


Author(s):  
Ying Min Low ◽  
Robin S. Langley

The global dynamic response of a deep water floating production system needs to be predicted with coupled analysis methods to ensure accuracy and reliability. Two types of coupling can be identified: one is between the floating platform and the mooring lines/risers, while the other is between the mean offset, the wave frequency, and the low frequency motions of the system. At present, it is unfeasible to employ fully coupled time domain analysis on a routine basis due to the prohibitive computational time. This has spurred the development of more efficient methods, including frequency domain approaches. A good understanding of the intricate coupling mechanisms is paramount for making appropriate approximations in an efficient method. To this end, a simplified two degree-of-freedom system representing the surge motion of a vessel and the fundamental vibration mode of the lines is studied for physical insight. Within this framework, the frequency domain equations are rigorously formulated, and the nonlinearities in the restoring forces and drag are statistically linearized. The model allows key coupling effects to be understood; among other things, the equations demonstrate how the wave frequency dynamics of the mooring lines are coupled to the low frequency motions of the vessel. Subsequently, the effects of making certain simplifications are investigated through a series of frequency domain analyses, and comparisons are made to simulations in the time domain. The work highlights the effect of some common approximations, and recommendations are made regarding the development of efficient modeling techniques.


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