Model testing of offshore

structures
Experimental Methods in Marine Hydrodynamics
Lecture in week 41

Presented by Halvor Lie, MARINTEK

 Outline
Part I: Offshore Structures
Typical test objectives, requirements and set-ups
Modeling of risers and anchor lines
Importance of slow drift motions
Challenges in deep water exploration and model testing!
Minimization of models
Truncation of risers and mooring lines
Hybrid model testing
Marine operations challenges and typical model tests

Part II: Vortex Induced Vibrations

Introduction
2D tests of rigid cylinders
3D tests of long elastic cylinders
 Offshore structures
All other applications except ships in transit
Examples:
Floating platforms and ships applied for production and/or
storage of oil and gas
Fixed structures
Risers
Mooring systems
Floating and submerged bridges
Fish farming structures
Offshore windmills (fixed & floating)

Commonality:
Hydrodynamic problems are important.
In most cases are also surface waves involved
 Typical Test Objectives
1. Feasibility studies
Early stage of new concepts / new applications / new environments

2. Concept Verification studies

Apply design loads to a completely modeled structure to verify that it
satisfies requirements
Typically an oil installation (drilling rig, production or storage ship)

3. Operational limits studies

Typically the limiting sea state of a demanding marine operation

4. Parts testing studies

Experiments with parts of a complex system
Determination of coefficients (drag , added mass, damping, RAOs )
for input to numerical simulations

5. Validation and/or verification of software

For actual type of structure and loading condition
 Typical Test Requirements
For concept verifications and operational limits studies
Zero (or very low) speed
High-accuracy modeling of complete environment
Multi-directional and short-crested waves
Time-varying wind (correctly modeled gusts)
Depth- (and time-) varying current
Correctly (Froude) scaled water depth
is often important
Correctly (Froude) scaled risers and mooring lines
Low speed and requirement for high accuracy waves
implies a short but wide tank (=basin)
 The Ocean Basin Laboratory
Double-flap
wave maker
Multi-flap
wave maker Double-flap
wave maker

50 m
Multi-flap
wave maker

TOWING TANK
OCEAN BASIN

80 m
Cross-section of Ocean Basin

Length: 80 m - Width: 50 m - Depth: 0-10 m

 Typical test set-up

Measurement of:
6 DoF motions by use of
optical position meas. system
Mooring line forces
Wave elevation close to
structure
Riser forces
Observation (by video):
Green water
Motions of mooring lines and
risers (by underwater video)
 Scaling considerations

Floater (ship or platform) built to geometrical scale

No particular scaling problems of motions and global loads
Risers:
Correct drag coefficient of sections
Scale effects modify diameter to obtain correct forces
Froude-scaled bending stiffness
Correctly scaled weight in water
Mooring lines
Axial stiffness might need to be modeled, but bending
stiffness might be neglected
Solution:
Non-homogeneous models of risers and mooring lines
Drag coefficient vs. Reynolds Number
in Steady Flow
Non-homogeneous models of
risers
Example:
Steel core gives correct bending stiffness

Material of outer pipe to give correct

buoyancy force

Diameter to give correct drag force

Risers
Non-homogeneous mooring lines

Might be a combination of:

Thin rope (fishing line)
Wire
Chain
Springs
Discrete lead weights
Floats
Mooring line
 Slowdrift (2nd order) forces
Very important for design of mooring and dynamic
positioning systems
Stiffness of mooring system is of vital importance
(provides the restoring force in the dynamic system)

Natural periods of deep water moored units

Unit Natural periods (s)

Surge Sway Heave Roll Pitch Yaw

FPSO >100 >100 5-12 5-30 5-12 >100

Semi >100 >100 20-50 30-60 30-60 >100
Spar >100 >100 20-50 50-100 50-100 >100
TLP >100 >100 <5 <5 <5 >100
 Low Frequency Motions
Dynamic system compromising
vessel mass and added mass
spring from station keeping system
damping from vessel and station keeping
Normally in horizontal plane
Small forces excitation in resonance
Damping important

Damping Mass Spring

Surge motion spectra from model test of a
tanker

Low frequency motion

Wave frequency motion

Frequency (Hz)
LF Surge Damping of a Turret Moored Tanker
Total damping

Mooring damping

Wave drift damping

Viscous damping
Aerodynamic damping
Time series, spectra & probability distribution from
model test of a turret moored FPSO
Wave

Surge

Tension
 Deep-water challenges
Time-variant current forces increasingly
important
Large offsets
Positioning difficulties
Risk for line entanglement
Manoeuvring from the surface is
difficult
Vertical resonance, resulting in motion
amplification and reduced limiting sea states
Wire weight
Lifting gear capacity
New liftline materials
Increased operation time
(more uncertain weather forecast)
Deep water testing Exististing
basins

Mooring lines

Deep water

Deeper basin!
Ultra small scale model testing
(=1:>>100)
Passive equivalent mooring system or
truncated hybrid system
Solutions with active control systems
Outdoor testing
Too expensive!
Verification of Deepwater Systems
by Physical Model Testing
 Ultra small scale model testing
Model scale =1:>>100
Challenges:
Weight and accuracy of models difficult to make
Viscous effects and surface tension might influence floater
Risers and mooring lines become extremely small
 Ultra-small scale model
testing: Comparing 3 scales
 RAO & Phase RAO
Tension vs. fairlead motion WF motion vs. wave
Damping from decay tests Empirical drift coefficients
3 scales compared 2 scales compared
Passive equivalent mooring
system
Mooring stiffness can be correctly
modeled
Mooring and riser dynamics usually not
correctly represented
Hybrid verification procedure

Stansberg et.al. 2002

Stansberg et.al. 2004
Trade-off between model size
and use of hybrid techniques
MODELOS MAIORES
MODELOS MENORES

Stansberg et.al. 2002

Solutions with active control system
Mooring lines Basin
Exististing
basins

Mooring lines
Mooring line servo units

Deep
Full water
water depth

Output motions
Floater motions of mooring line end
A/D
Mooring line tension Control
Mooring line signals

servo unit
D/A Control system Power
 Outdoors testing
Verification tests with complete system cannot
be done outdoors, due to lack of control of
environment
Phenomenal studies can be done, provided
measurement of both environment and
responses
Have been done for investigation of riser
Vortex-Induced Vibrations & inteference
Hanytangen
Skarnsundet
 Testing of Marine Operations
Determination of environmental limits for
specific operations
Wind
Waves
Current
Trying out of different procedures
Typical operations
Heavy lift
Installation of bottom equipment
Pipe laying
Towing operations
 Installation of slender
structures
Dynamic forces during
lowering
Wave forces in the
splash zone, incl.
slamming
Force contribution from
crane motion
Forces from waves and
current towards the sea
bed
Photo: Halliburton

Identification of critical
steps
Recommendations to
limiting seastate
TML Lift of Frigg jacket, model tests

512384
 Installation of a subsea production structure
1-4

Steel structure with GRP protection covers

Dimensions: 18 x 18 x 7 m
Mass: 180 tonnes
 Installation of a subsea production structure
5-8

Large dynamic forces in the splash zone

 Software verification and
validation studies Examples:
Green water on deck
Run-up and air-gap/deck slamming
 Extreme events:
FPSO SEMI

Wave runups
and slamming

Green water
slamming on deck

Green water
slamming on deck

Extreme waves
and
deck slamming

Bow slamming
 Testing in extreme wave events
- in order to study rare responses
- Response examples: Ringing; slamming and other strongly nonlinear
phenomena

- Irregular waves, simulating e.g. 3 hours storms:

Some times they produce only 2 3 critical
response events. Many realisations may be needed to give
reliable statistics

- Alternatively: Test in selected, transient wave groups.

Problem: How do we select the wave groups?
Specific, designed waves? Which characteristics?

One option: Pre-calibrate full irreg. records.

Then pick out selected time windows
and put them together
(Selection criteria?)
A 3-hour random realization of a 10-000 yr North Sea storm

Full scale wave elevation [m]

Extreme groups put together, picked out from many realisations

Full scale wave elevation [m]

 Testing of part problems
Dynamics of risers are most important
subject!
Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV)
Structural testing
 Summary of Part I:
Offshore Structures
Typical test objectives, requirements and set-ups
Modeling of risers and anchor lines
Importance of slow drift motions
Challenges in deep water exploration and model testing!
Minimization of models
Truncation of risers and mooring lines
Hybrid model testing
Marine operations challenges and typical model tests
Software verification and validation studies extreme and
rarely occurring events
Green water on deck
Wave run-up on platform legs
 Vortex Induced Vibrations

Current

Vortex
shedding

The cylinder starts to oscillate

fst = St U/D, St 0.15 0.3
SPAR with D=30 m, U=1.5 m/s, fSt 0.01 Hz (TSt=100 s)
Riser with D=0.30 m, U=1.5 m/s, fSt 1 Hz
VIV problem areas
 Increased

More specifically diameter and

drag

Risers:
Reduced fatigue life
Increased axial tension
d
Increased extreme loads
2d
Increased drag

T Increased
axial tension
SPAR:
Increased global motions
Increased drag (Off-set)
Increased mooring line tensions (ULS &FLS)
 Riser eigenmodes
To each mode, n, there
n: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .... corresponds an eigen-
0 frequency, fn. The riser will
0.1
oscillate when the Strouhal
0.2
frequency is close to an
0.3
eigenfrequency:
0.4

0.5
..... fn fs = StU/D
0.6

0.7

0.8
Hence, the speed of the
0.9
current will determine
1
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
which mode (n) will
f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 .... respond.
 Complex hydroelastic interactions for long
risers in sheared flow
Riser Strouhal Frequency
Current profile, U
fs = St U/d

Natural frequencies: f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6

Competing modes

Varying current profile: Many possible frequencies of oscillation exist. Competition

between modes. Difficult to predict frequency.