Some Observations on

the Heave Behavior of

F. J. Fischer Spar Platforms
Shell E&P Technology Company,
P.O. Box 481, The spar platform is receiving considerable attention from the offshore petroleum
Houston, TX 77001 indust~, especially following the successful introduction of the first production spar
e-mail: fjfischer@shellus.com
in the Gulf of Mexico by Oryx and CNG in 1996. This paper presents a collection
of observations regarding important heave characteristics of spar platforms that have
been gleaned from wave-basin model tests, numerical simulations, and comparisons
R. Gopalkrishnan of the two. These observations are pertinent to the heave performance of "classic"
Shell DeepwaterDevelopmentSystemsInc.,
(uniform-cylinder) spars. Excessive spar heave could be problematic for production
Houston, TX
and export risers. Spar-system characteristics affecting heave include draft, heave
natural period, heave-damping augmentation, and presence/absence of a vertical
tether~tendon. Tether requirements for shallow-draft spars have been found to be
much less onerous than once thought; steel tethers yielding a heave natural period
of 12 s have been found to be satisfacto~. Heave-damping augmentation using
multiple "plates" or "disks," following the work of Troesch at the University of
Michigan,. has also been found to be quite attractive.

Excessive Spar Heave and Possible Remedies
Small spars (minispars or minifloaters) having draft/diame-
ter ratios of 5-8, but drafts of only 60-120 m (200-400 ft),
have been proposed (Kerckhoff and Pijfers, 1989) for a variety
of deepwater offshore applications where topsides' require-
ments are minimal. Their response characteristics generally can
be made to be quite similar to those of the larger spars being
introduced into the GOM, e.g., the Oryx Neptune spar, except
that heave has been shown/observed to be problematic. Heave
problems arise due to the relatively small heave natural periods
of small untethered spars, e.g., 15-20 s, and the considerable
heave-excitation pressures (from waves) that can exist at the
keels of such shallow-draft spars.
One such minispar was considered recently in support of
several prolific subsea gas wells in 1676-m (5500-ft) water
depth. A spar'having a draft of 80 m (262 ft) and a diameter
of only 10 m (33 ft) was found to be sufficient to support a
minimal topside of 11.5 MN (2581 kips) and riser tension of
2.0 MN (460 kips). The total displacement of this spar was
63.2 MN (14,203 kips) and the total ballast (fixed-plus-water)
was 40.1 MN (9,018 kips). The spar was moored by an eight-
part taut polyester mooring system having a line diameter of
8.26 cm (3.25 in.).
Although all response characteristics of this spar are im-
portant, and interesting, the following will focus exclusively on
heave. In particular, the (undesirable) heave characteristics of
the "initial" minispar, denoted by MI, are examined first. The
means and benefits of heave-damping augmentation are then
examined. Finally, two alternative spar configurations, each
possessing acceptable heave characteristics, are discussed.
An examination of motion transfer functions for (spar) MI
revealed a heave natural period of around 17 s and a maximum
heave RAO of 4. The only sources of heave damping are the
bottom of the hull (bare cylinder) and the mooring lines. For
the heave motions present, it appears reasonable to assume that
the heave drag for the bare cylinder is that of a circular plate
Contributed by the OMAE Division and presented at the 17th International
Symposium and Exhibit on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, Lisbon,
Portugal, July 5 - 9 , 1998, of THE AMERICANSOCIETYOF MECHANICALENGINEERS.
Manuscript received by the OMAE Division, April 28, 1998; revised manuscript
received June 11, 1998. Technical Editor: S. Liu.
of the same diameter. Recent experiments by Professor Attain
Troesch of the University of Michigan indicate that the effective
drag coefficient is at least 1.2, since skin friction is also present.
The heave RAO for MI with bare cylinder damping (BCD) is
shown in Fig. 1. Figure 2 from Thiagarajan and Troesch (1994)
indicates that the effective drag coefficient for a heaving vertical
cylinder is at least 1.2 for Keulegan-Carpenter numbers, 27r A/D,
near unity. For MI, this would correspond to heave amplitudes of
around 1.6 m (5.2 ft). Troesch and Thiagarajan (1992) have
further shown that heave damping of vertical cylinders can be
increased significantly by the addition of a circular plate at the
keel of the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 3. In particular, damping-
amplification factors of 3 - 5 were achieved with a single plate
having a diameter of 1.3 times the bare-cylinder diameter. Since
the source of damping is the shedding of eddies, or vortices, along
the edge of the plate, it seems logical to expect that multiple plates
(edges) can be used to amplify heave damping even further. The
plates must be spaced far enough apart, however, so that they do
not merely entrap fluid mass and prevent eddy shedding. It should
be noted, however, that an increase in heave added mass is benefi-
cial in that it increases the heave natural period.
Heave RAOs for multiples of BCD heave damping are also
shown in Fig. 1. From this figure it appears that little benefit is
likely from additional heave damping above BCD x 10. Hence,
optimum heave damping could likely be achieved through the
addition of three (3) circular plates (rings) of outer diameter
13 m (42.6 ft) to MI. The radial extension of these rings would
be only 1.5 m (5 ft). These rings should probably be separated
by a distance of around 6 m (20 ft), which could be confirmed
experimentally.
Heave spectra for MI in the 100-yr hurricane, for various
amounts of heave damping, are shown in Fig. 4. For these
computations, the hull is in its inclined, offset position. For bare
cylinder damping, a maximum dynamic heave amplitude of
12.2 m (40 ft) is predicted. For BCD × 10, this figure drops
to 5.3 m (17.4 ft). An examination of the performance of "con-
ventional" steel catenary risers (SCR) showed that such mo-
tions, although considerably reduced, are probably excessive
for riser integrity. By contrast, steel lazy-wave risers should be
able to accommodate such heave motions.
Heavy Minispar. A "brute-force" remedy proposed for
contending with the excessive resonant heave experienced by
(spar) MI was to increase the heave period through the addition

Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering NOVEMBER 1998, Vol. 120 / 221
Copyright © 1998 by ASME

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 I I
3D 5 • wlo Disk • • ~'1
3.5

~3
E
4
• wl Disk
jr
•
U
6 2~ ¢o 3 i *"
Ilfl : •

3: 1.. ~•OoQ'
. . . . . W • . - • •
1 ff "BCIIx
' ~ I0 ----~m~ te i i
0.5 o i , . . i . . , i . . . . . . . . . r
V 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0- -JJ J KC
4 6 8 10 12 14 1"6 18 20 22 24 2628 30
Wave Period, sec Fig. 3 Drag coefficient versus KC for cylinder with and without disk at
zero current (Troesch and Thiagaralan, 1992)
Fig. 1 Heave RAO for initial minispar, M I - - b a r e cylinder damping, x2,
x5, x1O

The submerged weight of the multiple-rope tether was around

of hull mass (weight). In order to increase the heave period
from 17 s to around 22 s, the hull weight was increased from
62.3 to 106.8 MN (14,000 to 24,000 kips), an increase of 70
percent. This was done by adding fixed ballast and hull steel in
a 23.5-m (77-ft) extension of the hull. The draft for this new
heavy minispar thus became 103.5 m (339.5 ft). In order to
"support" this additional weight, the hull diameter had to be
increased to 11.9 m (39 ft). The hull was actually tapered down
near the waterline to the original 10 m (32.8 ft) so as to retain
the original hydrostatic stiffness. If not, much of the benefit of
the increased mass would have been lost.
The heave RAO for this new heavy minispar system, MH,
is shown in Fig. 5. Note that significant RAO values now occur
only above 20 s where there is little wave energy. An examina-
tion of heave response in the 100-yr hurricane event indicated
a maximum heave amplitude of only 1.7 m (5.6 ft), which is
roughly one-third of the best performance found for the initial
minispar system. This spar has also benefited from heave-damp-
ing augmentation (BCD x 10).
Tethered Minispar. A second, more "elegant" remedy
for the excessive heave motions of (spar) MI is the addition of
a vertical tether from the keel of the hull to the sear•or. A
tether consisting of three, 12.7-cm (5-in.) spiral-strand wire
ropes was examined in this context. These ropes quadrupled
the heave stiffness of MI, and, hence, the heave period dropped
to around 8.5 s. Heave RAOs for this minispar system are given
in Fig. 6.
10-
4.4 MN (1000 kips). A top tension of 6.7 MN (1500 kips) was
assumed in order to make sure that the tether does not go slack
in the design seastate. In the 100-yr hurricane, the top tension
remained below 8.9 MN ( 2000 kips), versus a breaking strength
of 38.7 MN (8700 kips), and the tether remained in tension
near the sea floor. A detailed fatigue analysis was beyond the
scope of this study. However, by analogy with the analysis
shown in the forthcoming for a minispar in 914-m (3000-ft)
WD, the fatigue life of the proposed tether is probably adequate.
It should be mentioned that this system, MT, is identical to
MI, except that it possesses a tether and the fixed ballast has
been reduced by an amount equal to the tether top tension.
Generally, all static and dynamic responses of MT are equal to
or less •than those of MI. The heave performance, however, is
vastly improved.
Among other things, the foregoing has indicated the benefits
of heave-damping augmentation of uniform, cylindrical spars.
The means of this augmentation, following Troesch, is the intro-
duction of multiple circular disks or rings along the vertical
extent of the submerged spar hull. As plausible as this conjec-
ture may be, it was decided to validate it through the scaled
experiments described in the forthcoming.
H e a v e - D a m p i n g - A u g m e n t a t i o n Tests for a Classic
Spar
The importance of heave-damping augmentation for spars,
and the possibility of achieving this augmentation (following
Troesch) via the use of circular-plate sections protruding from
the spar hull were highlighted in the foregoing. In this section,
an experimental program focusing on this phenomenon is dis-
cussed.

8.

A Experiments
3OOO

-- FrictionDrag ABeD
2500
>
"O
O
&

~0 1500

1000
- ~ - "A- -A- - &
500

0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6
KC Wave Frequency, rad/sec

Fig. 2 Drag coefficient for a vertical cylinder versus KC, ,8 = 89236 Fig. 4 Heave spectra for initial minispar, M l 1 1 0 0 - y r hurricane; bare
(Thiagarajan and Troesch, 1994) cylinder damping, x2, xS, x10

222 / VoI. 120, NOVEMBER 1998 Transactions of the ASME

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 0.160

0.140

1.6
1"8I BC[ KI0 0.120
4t.4
:F
° 1:f
0.8
l\
I
\
.
~ E
a
o
m
ol
o.
0.100

0.080

0.060

0.040
0'01
0.4
0.2 / 0.020 ~ BareCyllnderDamplng

0 ~-J ~ ~ .--'". ~ L J 0.000 i I I I

4 6 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 28 28 30 -1 0 1 2 3 4
Wave Period, sec Number of Damping Plates

Fig. 5 Heave RAO for "heavy" minispar, MH--bare cylinder damping ×10 Fig. 7 Heave damping as a function of number of plates--constant
separation = 0.93D

Tests were conducted during the summer of 1995 to investi-

gate the effectiveness of add-on heave-damping plates for
"classic" spars, i.e., cylindrical hull forms extending the full
depth of the structure. As mentioned previously, it is thought
that the primary damping mechanism involves viscous vortex
shedding from the plate edges. Thus, the tests had two main
goals: 1) to determine if more than one plate could be added
with effect; and 2) the optimum spacing between plates, for
more than one plate.
The test setup involved a 1.5-m (5-ft) long, 27.3-cm (10.75-
in.) dia PVC cylinder, capped at both ends and ballasted such
that it floated freely (with a vertical orientation) at a draft of
approximately 1.1 m (45 in. ). The damping plates were circular
rings constructed of 3.2-ram (i-in.) sheet aluminum, extending
to an outer diameter of 35.6 cm ( 14 in.), such that the extension
(height) of the damping rings was approximately 15 percent of
the spar diameter. The plates were designed to grip the test
cylinder tightly, yet could be removed and/or relocated to
achieve a number of different configurations.
Free-decay oscillation tests were conducted, wherein the cyl-
inder (with and without plate extension(s)) was subjected to
an initial heave offset and a sudden release; the resulting mo-
tions were monitored with accelerometers. Figures 7 and 8 illus-
trate representative results for a variety of plate configurations.
Figure 7 shows that with a number of damping plates, each
additional plate does increase total damping; however, the
largest increase is achieved with the very first plate (over the
bare cylinder). Figure 8 shows that the optimum spacing be-
tween two plates is approximately one cylinder diameter; fur-
ther increases in spacing do not significantly increase damping.
These tests were not perfect. Due to the fact that they were
conducted in an outdoor facility, and some amount of "back-
ground noise" in the form of surface ripples was "always"
present, only the first few (very large amplitude) cycles of each
test could be used reliably for damping estimates. Further, the
method used (free decay) resulted in a large variation of the
observed damping values (as shown on Figs. 7 and 8 by the
range markers).
Troesch and Thiagarajan have recently initiated a 2-yr re-
search program to investigate heave-damping augmentation and
related issues for spar-type platforms. These results will also
be relevant to emerging truss/jacket spars.
Minimum Tendon Requirements
Tendons, or tethers, similar to those employed with tension
leg platforms (TLP), have been proposed for use with catenary
or taut-moored minispars in order to improve their response
characteristics. In fact, tethered spars without any lateral moor-
ing systems, e.g., DOT's tethered buoyant tower (TBT), have
been shown to possess reasonable response characteristics. The
obvious response that should benefit from introduction of a
tether is heave. Control of heave is usually essential for the well-
being of import and export risers. In general, spar responses in
other degrees-of-freedom are also improved as a consequence
of introducing a tether.
Logical choices for minispar tethers at the present time are
steel-wire ropes or tubulars. In the near future, carbon-fiber
composites may also be practical.
In the past, fatigue problems for such tethers, have been
virtually assumed away by choosing sufficient steel cross sec-
tion to prevent wave-induced resonant heave response. Through
avoidance of resonance, the tethers were usually greatly overde-
0.140

0.2 0.120
0.16
0.100
0.16 f .2
0.14 f 0.080
f
O
- 0.12 / ol
c
0.1 / '5. 0.060

> 0.~
/ 0.040
/
X O.CE
0.04 0.020 • Bare Cylinder Damping

0.02
_ I
0.000 I I I I
0 -0.50 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00
$ 8 10 12 14 i6 i8 20 22 14 ~ 2~8 30 Separation Distance in Diameters
Wave Period, see
Fig. 8 Heave damping of two solid plates (1.3D) as a function of separa-
Fig. 6 Heave RAO for tethered minispar, MT tion distance between platesmfirst plate at keel

Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering NOVEMBER 1998, Vol. 120 / 223

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 signed relative to extreme 100-yr storm loads. An explicit exam- 10 7
I 2
pie of this overdesign will be illustrated in the following.
fO 8
For this study, it was assumed initially that sufficient tether
steel was present to produce heave natural periods of 6 - 8 s. 10 5 h

These periods correspond to ocean wavelengths of around 5 5 -

10 4 !
100 m (180-330 ft), which are less than typical minispar hull
drafts. Waves having these and smaller periods should produce 10 ~
negligible dynamic heave pressure at the keels of candidate
minispars, and, hence, resonant response aggravating tether fa- 1o21 ~2....... .;!J I i 5-In Tethers Force Life, yrs

tigue should be avoided. 101 i 8 - - F400 24110 -

.o
-': 8 ...... FO 10 0
For a representative minispar heave mass corresponding to a 2 FIO0 279 _
10 0
topsides of 62.3 MN (7000 tons), this logic suggested that 2 --- FSO 3t
2 ........ F25 24
around eight (8), 12.7-cm (5-in.) spiral-strand wire ropes 10 "1 r .,
2 .... FI0 25
m
would be required for a minispar in 914-m (3000-ft) WD. For 1,1,1,1, ,L,
10 ~
610-m (2000-ft) WD, five (5) such ropes would be required, 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
whereas for 1676-m (5500-ft) WD, 16 such ropes would be Period, s e c o n d s
needed. This follows from the assumption that spar hull masses
Fig. 10 Tension RAO values for a tethered minispar
vary little with water depth, whereas tether stiffness varies as
EA/L. Hence, as water depth increases, the steel area, A, must
increase proportionately.
To the knowledge of the authors, the conservativeness of this for force F0 = 0; there is very little direct heave excitation.
tether-stiffness (heave-period) assumption has been investi- Note, however, that the tether-tension RAO has a very sharp
gated (questioned) in this study for the first time. spike at the heave natural period. This is indicative of the very
The conclusion of this investigation is that acceptable fatigue small heave damping present in the system. In fact, the only
lives are possible with much less tether steel than originally damping present in this model is the drag damping on the six
anticipated. In particular, only three 12.7-cm (5-in) spiral-strand polyester mooring lines. Note that a very long ( 10 9 yr) fatigue
wire tethers (instead of eight) appear to satisfy both fatigue life is predicted.
and extreme-stress requirements. The associated minispar heave Application of the 100-yr storm offsetting force (F100) re-
period is around 12 s. suits in considerably larger tether tensions. The inclined, offset
For this tether-fatigue study, the candidate spar described in hull experiences greater surge and pitch excitation and is par-
the foregoing was employed. It had a six-part polyester, taut- tially restrained by the tether. The peak in the tension RAO plot
mooring system and the tether system had no auxiliary buoy- is also not as sharp as before, reflecting the increased hydrody-
ancy. Shell's proprietary dynamic-analysis program, COSMOS, namic damping associated with lateral surge and pitch motions
was used to compute cyclic tension ranges in the tether system of the hull. Although tether tensions are much larger than before
associated with the 19 random seastates making up the "con- (initially alarming), the predicted fatigue life of 24,100 yr is
densed" GOM wave-scatter diagram. The COSMOS post-pro- quite comforting.
cessor was then used to compute fatigue damages and, ulti- Similar fatigue analyses were conducted for systems having
mately, life. fewer and fewer 12.7-cm wire rope tethers. Eight tethers were
A fatigue SN curve for 12.7-cm spiral-strand wire rope is reduced to four, and then two, and finally back to three. Tension
shown in Fig. 9. For this application, line tension and not stress and fatigue life results for a two-rope tether are also shown in
was utilized for determining damage. Fig. 10. The heave natural period shifts to around 13 s, and the
Figure 10 shows several tether-tension RAO plots for either peak tensions are higher than for the eight-rope tethers. Fatigue
two (2) or eight (8) 12.7-cm wire rope tethers. These curves are lives as low as 24 yr are predicted for representative offset
further distinguished according to the environmental offsetting forces. A single offset force was used for all 19 seastates for
force, F. For this and subsequent plots, F 100 = 100-yr storm expediency. Five different values are employed, however, i.e.,
force, and Fmn = (0.mn) × F100, e.g., F25 = 0.25 × F100. F0, F10, F25, F50, and F100. In actuality, each seastate has a
By reference to the two 8-line RAO curves appearing in Fig. different offset force.
10 for F100 and F0, it can readily be seen that the dynamic Figure 11 shows predicted fatigue lives versus number of
tether tension strongly depends upon the mean offset position 12.7-cm tethers. For each tether assumption, the minimum and
of the minispar. The minispar hull is vertical and is not offset

101° ~ L I I t
1001 10 9 FIO0 - 'f00-yr Storm Force _ _
Ft0 - (0.10)xFI00
Ref SN Curve lO 0 i
-I- 127 mm ss
107
m ~ UBL = 2900 kips m
t0 0
0
d 10 s
FI00
,~ 104 ; ,P F10
.3 i F25 ' ) FSO
o 10 3 FtO0
A|lowal ple- 300

10, 1,=
t01

10 0
t~0, i .......
10 5
i i i Ill . . . . . . . . .
10 e 10 7
2 3 4 5
Number o f 6-inch Tethers
6 8

N, C y c l e s to Failure
Fig. 11 Tether fatigue lives for a tethered minispar; reduced wave scat-
Fig. 9 Wire rope fatigue (SN) curve ter diagram

224 / Vol. 120, NOVEMBER 1998 Transactions of the A S M E

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 maximum fatigue lives corresponding to the set of offset forces 12000
examined are shown. From this figure, it is clear that three
(3) is the minimum number of 12.7-cm tethers for satisfactory ~.~= 10000 J
fatigue behavior. This system could be further optimized; there
is nothing magical about 12.7-cm spiral-strand wire rope tethers.
o ,
= .2 Maxim Jm Tensil /
J
AIIowal le = BSl2
The tether must also be designed to withstand extreme, 100-yr t-- ~ 8000 = 2900~ N/2

storm loading. Figure 12 shows the maximum tether tension E

versus number of 12.7-cm wire ropes comprising the tether. E .~ ss00
Whereas, eight ropes have a considerable amount of unused ~ o~
capacity, three ropes appear to be a near optimum solution. ~ 4000
Although no explicit fatigue computations were made for
other water depths, it is believed that as few as six, 12.7-cm 2000
ropes may be sufficient for 1676-m WD minispars instead of
2 3 ; 5 ; i "'8
Number of 5,,.inch Tethers
the 16 initially proposed.
Although encouraging, it must be cautioned that other sources Fig. 12 Maximum tether tensions for a tethered minispar; 100-yr hurri-
of dynamic excitation which could cause tether-fatigue have cane conditions
been ignored. These include second-order (sum-and-difference-
frequency) wave excitation, and dynamic wind lift acting on 3) a tendon/tether system. In particular, a conclusion of this
the inclined deck. Additional analyses and, perhaps, model tests investigation is that acceptable tendon fatigue lives are possible
would be required for any final design. with much less tendon steel than originally anticipated.

Conclusions
The heave performance of "small" spars, e.g., minispars,
has been examined and found to be potentially problematic. In
addition to the "remedy" afforded by deep spar drafts, e.g.,
650 ft for the Oryx Neptune spar, heave can also be reduced
effectively through introduction of 1) heave-damping augmen-
tation, 2) additional heave structural or added mass, and/or
References
Kerckhoff, W. P. J. M., and Pijfers, J. G. L., 1989, "Minifloater, A Low Cost
Production Facility in Deep Water," Deep Offshore Technology Conference.
Thiagarajan, K. P., and Troesch, A. W., 1994, "Hydrodynamic Damping Esti-
mation and Scaling for Tension Leg Platforms," ASME JOURNAL OF OFFSHORE
MECHANICS AND .ARCTICENGINEERING,Vol. 116, pp. 70-76.
Troesch, A. W., and Thiagarajan, K. P., 1992, "Hydrodynamic Forces on Sharp
Edged Bodies Undergoing Small Amplitude Oscillations in a Uniform Stream,"
NSF Workshop on Riser Mechanics, University of Michigan, pp. 275-286.

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