Experimental study of motions of two floating offshore structures in waves

Abstract

Drilling is carried out in deeper to deeper waters around the globe to meet growing demands for oil and natural gas, and a number of multi body structures are deployed in various oil fields in the world. Investigation of hydrodynamic interaction of offshore structures is therefore worthwhile. Hydrodynamic interaction between floating offshore structures affects motion and relative motion especially during loading and offloading operations. Hydrodynamic interactions may lead to large motions of floating bodies that would cause damage to moorings and offloading systems and may collide with each other. This research work discusses experimental results of hydrodynamic interaction in surge, heave and pitch motion, relative motion and relative distance between a Tension Leg Platform (TLP) and semi-submersible (Tender Assisted Drilling) in regular waves. The experiment is conducted without tendon because of the depth limitation of the Towing Tank. However, in order to consider the contribution of mooring in linear direction, appropriate stiffness of horizontal springs have been used. The experiment was conducted for a full scale wave height of 3.77 m to 12.49 m for a separation distance of 21.7 m. From the analyses of the experimental and numerical results, it can be concluded that nonlinearity of the wave has an important effect on increasing the motion especially in the natural frequency region. Finally, a number of recommendations have been made for further study.