JEE484 Floating & Deepwater Structures - Orcaflex Class week 1

JEE484 Floating & Deepwater Structures

Orcaflex Class week 1

Content:
1.1 Anchoring a vessel with one catenary line
1.2 Checking the line tension and adjusting line length (for the static
condition)
1.3 Setting up the environmental loads

1.1 Anchoring a vessel with one catenary line (see Figure 1)

- Select the ‘vessel’ sign on the top menu and drop it into the environment
space.
- Do the same for the ‘line’ sign.
- Click F6 for the Model Browser to appear. Model Browser lists all objects
(elements) of your system: note Line1, Vessel 1. By clicking on the object in
Model Browser, you can edit its properties (you can do the same by clicking
over the object itself).
- Now you can connect your line to the vessel (End A) and anchor End B,
change the length of the line and change the line discretisation (target
segment length).

What does the line discretisation achieve?

- You can manually move the objects. Place the anchor end of the line on the
seafloor. Allow an appropriate length.

Figure 1
 JEE484 Floating & Deepwater Structures - Orcaflex Class week 1

What is an appropriate length?

‘Play’ with the line length. To simulate the static condition, press F9; to enable further
changes to the system, you need to disengage your simulation - press F12

1.2 Checking the line tension and adjusting line length (for the static condition)

To check the line tension, press F5.

Which Type of Results do we want? - Time history?

We can display results in a graphical or table formats (Figure 2) – use ‘show’ and
‘values’ button respectively in the Results interface.

Figure 2

You can adjust line length or anchor position that would give you a desired tension:
Calculation>Line Set up Wizard

- In the Line Set up Wizard, specify the tension that 10% lower of your current
tension.
- Check what the line length is now.
- Check the tension
 JEE484 Floating & Deepwater Structures - Orcaflex Class week 1

1.3 Setting up the environmental loads

Set up the following system:

Vessel heading is 270 degrees as shown in Figure 3;

Waves: Dean’s Stream, in the direction of 90 degrees, 6m height, 9 sec period;
Current is 0.7m/s in 180° direction.

Hint: 0° is within the direction of the X axis.

Ctrl E and Crtl P give you the Elevation and Plan view respectively

Figure 3

Figure 4

Note that the directions of the waves and current are specified on the coordinate
system axis in the top right corner (Figure 4).

Set up the current gradient as follows: 10%linear reduction to the depth of 70m, and
it further and more intensively reduced below 70m to the figure of 30% of the top
current at the sea floor (Figure 5).

Look up options of setting up exponential gradient and current direction variation

throughout the water column
 JEE484 Floating & Deepwater Structures - Orcaflex Class week 1

Figure 5

- Run dynamic simulation

- Check the tension results

Note that you can observe tension fluctuation in real time by pressing re-play (Figure
6)

Figure 6

F1 is your favourite button