Nonlinear coupled response of offshore tension leg platforms to regular wave forces

Among the compliant platforms, the tension leg platform (TLP) is a vertically moored structure with excess buoyancy. The TLP is designed to behave in the same way as any other moored structure in horizontal plane, at the same time inheriting the stiffness of a fixed platform in the vertical plane. Dynamic response analysis of a TLP to deterministic first order wave forces is presented, considering coupling between the degrees-of-freedom surge, sway, heave, roll, pitch and yaw. The analysis considers nonlinearities produced due to changes in cable tension and due to nonlinear hydrodynamic drag forces. The wave forces on the elements of the pontoon structure are calculated using Airy's wave theory and Morison's equation ignoring diffraction effects. The nonlinear equation of motion is solved in the time domain by Newmark's beta integration scheme. The effects of different parameters that influence the response of the TLP are then investigated.     

Influence of wave approach angle on TLP's response

The current study focuses on the response analysis of triangular tension leg platform (TLP) for different wave approach angles varying from 0° through 90° and its influence on the coupled dynamic response of triangular TLPs. Hydrodynamic loading is modeled using Stokes fifth-order nonlinear wave theory along with various other nonlinearities arising caused by change in tether tension and change in buoyancy caused by set down effect. Low frequency surge oscillations and high frequency tension oscillations of tethers are ignored in the analysis. Results show that wave approach angle influences the coupled dynamic response of triangular TLP in all degrees of freedom except heave. Response in roll and sway degrees of freedom are activated which otherwise are not present in TLP's response to unidirectional waves. Pitch and roll responses are highly stochastic in nature indicating high degree of randomness. Variation in surge, sway and heave responses are nonlinear and are not proportional to change in wave height for the same period.     

Third order wave force on axisymmetric bodies

The third order triple-frequency wave load on fixed axisymmetric bodies by monochromatic waves is considered within the frame of potential theory. Waves are assumed to be weak non-linearity and a perturbation method is used to expand velocity potentials and wave loadings into series according to a wave steepness of kA. Integral equation method is used to compute velocity potentials up to second order in wave steepness. The third order triple-frequency wave loads are computed by an indirect method and an efficient method is applied to form the third order forcing term on the free surface quickly. The method can be used to compute third order triple-frequency surge force, heave force and pitch moment on any revolution bodies with vertical axes. The comparison with Malenica and Molin's results is made on surge force on a uniform cylinder, and comparison with experimental results is made on third order surge force, heave force and pitch moment on a truncated cylinder. More numerical computations are carried out for third order forces and moments on a uniform cylinder, truncated cylinders and a hemisphere.     

Stochastic Analysis of Short-Term Structural Responses and Fatigue Damages of A Submerged Tension Leg Platform Wind Turbine in Wind and Waves

In connection with the design of floating wind turbines, stochastic dynamic analysis is a critical task considering nonlinear wind and wave forces. To study the random structural responses of a newly designed submerged tension leg platform(STLP) wind turbine, a set of dynamic simulations and comparison analysis with the MIT/NREL TLP wind turbine are carried out. The signal filter method is used to evaluate the mean and standard deviations of the structural response. Furthermore, the extreme responses are estimated by using the mean upcrossing rate method. The fatigue damages for blade root, tower, and mooring line are also studied according to the simulated time-series. The results and comparison analysis show that the STLP gives small surge and pitch motions and mooring line tensions in operational sea states due to the small water-plane area. Additionally, in severe sea states, the STLP gives lower extreme values of platform pitch, slightly larger surge and heave motions and better towerbase and mooring line fatigue performances than those of the MIT/NREL TLP. It is found that the STLP wind turbine has good performances in structural responses and could be a potential type for exploiting the wind resources located in deep waters.     

Constrained near-optimal control of a wave energy converter in three oscillation modes

This paper investigates the performance of a small axisymmetric buoy under wave-by-wave near optimal control in surge, heave, and pitch modes in long-crested irregular waves. Wave prediction is obtained using a deterministic propagation model. The paper describes the overall formulation leading up to the derivation of the feedforward control forces in surge and heave, and the control moment in pitch. The radiation coupling between surge and pitch modes is accounted for in the model. Actuation is relative to deeply submerged reaction masses. Heave oscillations are constrained by the swept-volume limit. Oscillation constraints are also applied on the surge and pitch oscillations. The paper discusses time-domain simulations for an irregular wave input with and without the present control. Also discussed are results obtained over a range of irregular wave conditions derived for energy periods from 7 s to 17 s, and a significant wave height of 1 m. It is found that, while the gains in power capture enabled by the present control are significant, the actuation forces are also very large, given the small size of the buoy. Further, due to the small size, heave is found to be the dominant contributor to power capture, with relatively modest contributions from surge and pitch.     

Dynamic behaviour of square and triangular offshore tension leg platforms under regular wave loads

Among compliant platforms, the tension leg platform (TLP) is a hybrid structure. With respect to the horizontal degrees of freedom, it is compliant and behaves like to a floating structure, whereas with respect to the vertical degrees of freedom, it is stiff and resembles a fixed structure and is not allowed to float freely. The greatest potential for reducing costs of a TLP in the short term is to go through previously applied design approaches, to simplify the design and reduce the conservatism that so far has been incorporated in the TLP design to accommodate for the unproven nature of this type of platform. Dynamic analysis of a triangular model TLP to regular waves is presented, considering the coupling between surge, sway, heave, roll, pitch and yaw degrees of freedom. The analysis considers various nonlinearities produced due to change in the tether tension and nonlinear hydrodynamic drag force. The wave forces on the elements of the pontoon structure are calculated using Airy's wave theory and Morison's equation, ignoring the diffraction effects. The nonlinear equation of motion is solved in the time domain using Newmark's beta integration scheme. Numerical studies are conducted to compare the coupled response of a triangular TLP with that of a square TLP and the effects of different parameters that influence the response are then investigated.     

Investigation on Effects of Mooring Line Fractures and Connector Failures for A Hybrid Modular Floating Structure System

The present work reports a Hybrid Modular Floating Structure (HMFS) system with typical malfunction conditions. The effects of both fractured mooring lines and failed connectors on main hydrodynamic responses (mooring line tensions, module motions, connector loads and wave power production) of the HMFS system under typical sea conditions are comparatively investigated. The results indicate that the mooring tension distribution, certain module motions (surge, sway and yaw) and connector loads (M_z) are significantly influenced by mooring line fractures. The adjacent mooring line of the fractured line on the upstream side suffers the largest tension among the remaining mooring lines, and the case with two fractured mooring lines in the same group on the upstream side is the most dangerous among all cases of two-line failures in view of mooring line tensions, module motions and connector loads. Therefore, one emergency strategy with appropriate relaxation of a proper mooring line has been proposed and proved effective to reduce the risk of more progressive mooring line fractures. In addition, connector failures substantially affect certain module motions (heave and pitch), certain connector loads (F_z and M_y) and wave power production. The present work can be helpful and instructive for studies on malfunction conditions of modular floating structure (MFS) systems.

     

Internal Resonances for Heave,Roll and Pitch Modes of A Spar Platform Considering Wave and Vortex-Induced Loads in the Main Roll Resonance

We present a study of the nonlinear coupling internal resonance for the heave roll and pitch performance of a spar platform under the wave and vortex-induced loads when the ratio of the frequencies of heave, roll and pitch are approximately 2:1:1. In consideration of varying wet surface, the three DOFs nonlinear coupled equations are established for the spar platform under the effect of the first-order wave loads in the heave and pitch, and vortexinduced loads in the roll. By utilizing the method of multi-scales when the vortex-induced frequency is close to the natural roll frequency, the first-order perturbation solution is obtained analytically and further validated by the numerical integration. Sensitivity analysis is performed to understand the influence of the damping and the internal detuning parameter. Two cases with internal resonance are shown. The first case is that no saturation phenomenon exists under small vortex-induced loads. The first order perturbation solution illustrates that only the vortex-induced frequency motion in roll and the super-harmonic frequency motion in heave are excited. The second case is that the vortex-induced loads are large enough to excite the pitch and a saturation phenomenon in the heave mode follows.The results show that there is no steady response occurrence for some cases. For these cases chaos occurs and large amplitudes response can be induced by the vortex-induced excitation.     

Internal Resonances for Heave, Roll and Pitch Modes of A Spar Platform Considering Wave and Vortex-Induced Loads in the Main Roll Resonance

We present a study of the nonlinear coupling internal resonance for the heave roll and pitch performance of a spar platform under the wave and vortex-induced loads when the ratio of the frequencies of heave, roll and pitch are approximately 2:1:1. In consideration of varying wet surface, the three DOFs nonlinear coupled equations are established for the spar platform under the effect of the first-order wave loads in the heave and pitch, and vortex-induced loads in the roll. By utilizing the method of multi-scales when the vortex-induced frequency is close to the natural roll frequency, the first-order perturbation solution is obtained analytically and further validated by the numerical integration. Sensitivity analysis is performed to understand the influence of the damping and the internal detuning parameter. Two cases with internal resonance are shown. The first case is that no saturation phenomenon exists under small vortex-induced loads. The first order perturbation solution illustrates that only the vortex-induced frequency motion in roll and the super-harmonic frequency motion in heave are excited. The second case is that the vortex-induced loads are large enough to excite the pitch and a saturation phenomenon in the heave mode follows. The results show that there is no steady response occurrence for some cases. For these cases chaos occurs and large amplitudes response can be induced by the vortex-induced excitation.     

畸形波作用下张力腿浮式风力机动力响应特性

针对张力腿系泊浮式风力机的基础运动,忽略柔性构件的影响,建立气动—水动—系泊非线性耦合运动方程。在运动控制方程中包含张力腿系泊系统的非线性回复刚度,桨距角控制以及浮式基础运动对空气动力载荷的影响。在波浪载荷的计算中考虑二阶波浪载荷的作用。采用随机频率相位角调制法生成畸形波波面时历,计算在畸形波作用下张力腿型浮式风力机的动力响应特性。数值模拟结果表明,在畸形波作用下,浮式基础的运动及空气动力性能均受到了显著的影响。其中浮式基础的纵荡和纵摇运动分别受二阶差频与和频波浪力的影响,而垂荡运动的增加则主要是受下沉运动的影响。在畸形波经过的时刻,风力机的功率系数迅速下降,水平方向的风载荷波动先减小,随后其数值急剧下降,而垂直方向的风载荷波动增大。     

Response analysis of tension-based tension leg platform under irregular waves

Tension Leg Platform(TLP) is a hybrid structure used as oil drilling and production facility within water depths of 1200 m. The extension of this TLP concept to deeper waters is a challenge and warrants for some innovative design concepts. In this paper, a relatively new concept of TLP which is christened as Tension-Based Tension Leg Platform(TBTLP) and patented by Srinivasan(1998) has been chosen for study. Response analysis of TLP with one tension base under irregular waves for three different sea states has been performed using hydrodynamic tool ANSYS? AQWA?. Results are reported in terms of RAOs, response spectrums for surge, heave and pitch degrees of freedom from which spectral statistics have been obtained. The statistics of TBTLP have been compared with TLPs(without tension base) for two different water depths to highlight the features of the new concept. The effect of viscous damping and loading effects on the RAOs are also investigated.     

畸形波作用下半潜式平台波浪爬升与气隙响应特性

半潜平台的波浪爬升与气隙响应是设计过程中的重要考量因素。为探究随机波浪场中畸形波对半潜平台波浪爬升及气隙响应的影响,将含畸形波的随机波浪试验与一般随机波浪试验结果进行了对比研究分析。对模型试验测得的运动以及监测点处的波浪爬升及气隙进行频谱分析以及极值统计分析。研究发现,纵荡和纵摇的极大值主要受畸形波的影响而显著增大,纵荡、垂荡以及纵摇响应谱几乎不受单个畸形波影响;波浪爬升与气隙的极大值受到畸形波的影响而增大,同时,畸形波对气隙响应谱造成极大影响,增强了波浪爬升与气隙响应的非线性性。     

Response Analysis of Tension-Based Tension Leg Platform Under Irregular Waves

Tension Leg Platform (TLP) is a hybrid structure used as oil drilling and production facility within water depths of 1200 m. The extension of this TLP concept to deeper waters is a challenge and warrants for some innovative design concepts. In this paper, a relatively new concept of TLP which is christened as Tension-Based Tension Leg Platform (TBTLP) and patented by Srinivasan (1998) has been chosen for study. Response analysis of TLP with one tension base under irregular waves for three different sea states has been performed using hydrodynamic tool ANSYS? AQWA?. Results are reported in terms of RAOs, response spectrums for surge, heave and pitch degrees of freedom from which spectral statistics have been obtained. The statistics of TBTLP have been compared with TLPs (without tension base) for two different water depths to highlight the features of the new concept. The effect of viscous damping and loading effects on the RAOs are also investigated.     

一种新型波能发电装置的运动响应计算

为分析碟形越浪式波能发电装置初步设计方案的合理性和不足,应用三维势流理论和波浪的辐射-衍射理论,结合水动力分析软件AQWA,计算在规则波浪作用下装置浮体6个自由度上运动的响应幅值算子(RAOs),考虑不规则波浪、风、流载荷的共同作用,对装置在工作海况和恶劣海况下的运动响应进行数值模拟分析,得到其时间历程结果。结果表明:装置结构外形设计合理,装置在其锚链张力腿锚泊系统定位下,运动响应满足工作稳定性要求和安全性要求。     

Investigation of motions of catamarans in regular waves—I

In this paper an analytical technique based on the two-dimensional Green function method associated with a cross-flow approach for taking viscous effects into account to estimate the motion response of catamarans in the frequency domain is presented. In order to validate this method, the numerical results are compared with experimental values obtained for two different catamarans (ASR5061 [Wahab, R., Pritchett, C. and Ruth, L.C. 1971. On the behaviour of the ASR catamaran in waves. Marine Technology, 8, 334–360] and Marintek [Faltinsen, O., Hoff, J.R., Kvalsvold, J. and Zhao, R. 1992. Global loads on high speed catamarans. 5th Int. Symp. on Practical Design of Ships and Mobile Units, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1.360–1.373]).In the second part of the paper the tests carried out with a third catamaran configuration at the Hydrodynamics Laboratory of the University of Glasgow are presented to evaluate the non-linear effects. These test results cover different speeds and wave heights at a wide range of wave frequencies. The paper concludes that the two-dimensional method correlates very well with measurements of small amplitude motions. For large amplitude motion tests, the non-linear effects become significant when the model speed and wave amplitudes increase. The peak values of heave and pitch motions measured around the resonance frequency are smaller than those obtained from the linear theory.     

Diffraction of Water Waves by A Vertically Floating Cylinder in A Two-Layer Fluid

In this paper, the diffraction of water waves by a vertically floating cylinder in a two-layer fluid of a finite depth is studied. Analytical expressions for the hydrodynamic loads on the vertically floating cylinder are obtained by use of the method of eigenfunction expansions. The hydrodynamic loads on the vertically floating cylinder in a two-layer fluid inelude not only the surge, heave and pitch exciting forces due to the incident wave of the surface-wave mode, but also those due to the incident wave of the internal-wave mode. This is different from the case of a homogenous fluid. Some given examples show that, for a two-layer fluid system with a small density difference, the hydrodynamic loads for the surface-wave mode do not differ significantly from those due to surface waves in a single-layer fluid, but the hydrodynamic loads for the internal-wave mode are important over a wide range of frequencies. Moreover, also considered are the free surface and interface elevations generated by the diffraction wave due to the incident wave of the surface-wave and interhal-wave modes, and transfer of energy between modes.     

Hydrodynamic performance of a T-shaped floating breakwater

The comprehensive utilization of floating breakwaters, specially acting as a supporting structure for offshore marine renewable energy explorations, has received more and more attention recently. Based on linear water-wave theory, the hydrodynamic performance of a T-shaped floating breakwater is semi-analytically investigated through the matched eigenfunction expansion method (MEEM). Auxiliary functions, to speed up the convergence and improve the accuracy in the numerical computations, are introduced to represent the singular behavior of fluid field near the lower salient corners of the structure. The effects of the height and installation position of the vertical screen on the reflection and transmission coefficients, dynamic response and wave forces are examined. It is found that the presence of the screen shifts the resonance frequency of RAO for both surge and pitch modes to the low-frequency area, while has no effect on heave mode. The identical added masses, damping and transmission coefficients can be obtained in the cases where the screen holds the same distance away from the longitudinal central axis of the upper box-type structure. Moreover, a relatively small pitch response can be achieved in a wide wave–frequency range, when the breakwater is Γ-shaped.     

Approximated dynamic analysis of single anchor leg storage system

This paper is concerned with the determination of dynamic load variations in the riser and yoke pivot components of an offshore vessel/mooring oil production and storage system.Forces on the yoke system arise from wave induced inertial and drag forces including current and motion due to vessel surge, heave and pitch.The analysis is carried out in the frequency domain and the results yield the limiting wave height for a specific design of SALS which will give rise to loss of tension in the riser. Also presented are the maximum horizontal and vertical components of load variation at the yoke pivoted connections with the vessel.     

垂荡板对浮式风机水动—气动耦合性能影响研究

随着风电产业向深远海发展,浮式风机已经成为海上风机未来的发展趋势.由于复杂的风浪联合环境载荷作用,浮式风机作业时通常会产生大幅度的运动响应,这一方面会使得浮式风机系统受到的水动力载荷更加复杂,另一方面会影响浮式风机的输出功率.因此,如何有效地抑制浮式风机系统的运动响应就成为了设计的关键.基于非稳态致动线模型和两相流求解器naoeFOAM-SJTU,进行了带垂荡板的浮式风机耦合性能研究.首先在OC3-Hywind Spar平台上附加垂荡板,并结合NREL-5 MW风力机建立带垂荡板的浮式风机模型.其次对比不同形状的垂荡板对Spar-5 MW型浮式风机气动—水动耦合结果,分析相同风浪联合作用条件下垂荡板形状对浮式风机耦合响应的影响.研究结果表明:垂荡板能够减小纵荡和垂荡等运动响应幅值,但是对纵摇运动响应影响较小;当垂荡板直径和吃水位置相同时,相同风浪条件下圆形垂荡板能使浮式风机的气动平均功率增大约0.844％,而正方形垂荡板却使平均功率减小1.492％,这说明圆形垂荡板对浮式风机系统的作用效果整体而言优于正方形.