Loads and moments due to currents and wind on offshore gravity platforms

The environmental factors that influence the loads imposed on offshore structures are: the ice effects, tidal fluctuations, the wind, the currents and the waves. This paper considers the significance of loads and moments due to wind and currents on offshore gravity platforms. The alogarithm CURLOAD is given to evaluate loads and moments of gravity platforms due to wind and currents alone. This subroutine forms a part of a suite of computer programs F-WAVE which analyse and design gravity platforms under static and dynamic sea load conditions. The programs are tested on Condeep concrete gravity platforms. The output from CURLOAD shows a good agreement with the one predicted by the Condeep designers. In conclusions, the paper gives a comparative study of these results with those produced by the combined effects of wind, currents and waves.