Tension-Leg Platforms

Tension leg platforms (TLPs) are floating platforms that combine the buoyancy
forces (generated by displacement resulting from the draft—submerged part of the
hull), with the tensile forces generated by tubular cables connected to the hull and
anchored on the seabed.

From: Risk Management in the Oil and Gas Industry, 2021

Related terms:

Floating Production Storage and Offloading, Pontoons, Semisubmersibles, Well-

heads, Wind Turbines, Floating Platform

View all Topics

Mooring for floating wind turbines

Kai-Tung Ma, ... Yongyan Wu, in Mooring System Engineering for Offshore Struc-
tures, 2019

15.1.4 Tension leg platform type

The TLP type comprises a floating foundation (platform) to carry the wind turbine as
shown in Fig. 15.4. Unlike the spar type which needs to be assembled offshore, this
TLP wind turbine may be assembled and commissioned onshore, thereby avoiding
the logistical difficulties of offshore assembly. The floating platform is held in
position by vertical tendons (also called tethers) which are anchored either by suction
piles, driven piles, or a template foundation. The pretensioned tethers provide the
righting stability. A TLP wind turbine has been installed off the coast of Puglia,
southern Italy by Blue H Technologies [1]. Apart from PelaStar developed by Glosten
and Blue H TLP by Blue H Group, there are other TLP-based concepts, including
Eco TLP and GICON-SOF.
Figure 15.4. TLP-based wind turbine floaters. TLP, Tension leg platform.Courtesy of
the Glosten Associates.

> Read full chapter

Historical Development of Offshore

Structures
Subrata Chakrabarti, ... Cuneyt Capanoglu, in Handbook of Offshore Engineering,
2005

1.7.5.3 Tension Leg Platform

A Tension Leg Platform (TLP) is a vertically moored compliant platform. The floa-
ting platform with its excess buoyancy is vertically moored by taut mooring lines
called tendons (or tethers). The structure is vertically restrained precluding motions
vertically (heave) and rotationally (pitch and roll). It is compliant in the horizontal
direction permitting lateral motions (surge and sway).
Several TLPs have been installed in several parts of the oceans of the world (table
1.6). The first TLP was installed in Hutton Field in about 148 m water depth in the
UK sector of

Table 1.6. Tension leg platforms in-service or decommissioned

TLP Field/Location Uniqueness Water Depth Year

Hutton North Sea, UK First TLP removed 148 m 1984
in 2001
Jolliet Green Canyon, First deep water 335 m 1989
GOM well head TLP
Snorre Norwegian North 310 m 1992
Sea
Auger Garden Banks, Has Tethers and 872 m 1994
GOM Conv. Mooring
Heidrun Norwegian North First TLP with 350 m 1995
Sea concrete hull
Mars Mississippi 894 m 1996
Canyon, GOM
Ram/Powell Viosca Knoll, Copy of Mars 980 m 1997
GOM
Ursa Mississippi Largest TLP in 1204 m 1999
Canyon, GOM GOM
Brutus Green Canyon Korean Construc- 914 m 2001
GOM tion

note: MiniTLPs are not shown on this table. They are discussed in the following
subsections All of the “classic” TLPs consisted of four columns and ring pontoons
without diagonal bracing.

North Sea in 1984. The Operator Conoco could have developed this field far cheaper
with a fixed platform but utilised the TLP concept where diver intervention was
feasible so that the experience would lead to the use of a TLP in deepwater. Conoco
authorised the design of a small wellhead platform (TLWP) in 1986 and the unit was
installed in the Jolliet field (1755 ft or 535 m water depth) in 1988. Other units to
follow Jolliet in the Gulf of Mexico are Shell's deepwater TLPs. Auger was installed
in 1994 in 2867 ft or 874 m water depth, followed by Mars in 1996 in 2930 ft or 893
m, Ram/Powell in 1997 in 3215 ft or 980 m, Ursa in 1999 in 3950 ft or 1204 m and
Brutus in 2001 in 2998 ft or 914 m water depth (see fig. 1.18).
Figure 1.18. Tension leg platforms installed as of 2002(Courtesy of Deepstar)

The Norwegian sector of North Sea has seen two TLPs: Snorre in 1992 (1017 ft or
310 m water depth) and Heidrun TLP in 1148 ft or 350 m water depth. Heidrun TLP
is the first TLP to have a concrete hull.

A challenge for TLP designers is to keep the natural periods in heave and pitch below
the range of significant wave energy. Heave period may be controlled by increasing
the pipe wall thickness of the tendons. Pitch period may be reduced by placing the
tendons on a wide spacing to increase stiffness. However, it makes the support of
the deck with large spans expensive. The Extended Leg TLP, or ETLP (fig. 1.19) was
introduced by ExxonMobil on its Kizomba A field in 2003. This concept has four
columns on a closer spacing than normal, ring pontoons and pontoon extensions
cantilevered to support the tendons on a wide moment arm [Huang, et al, 2000].

Figure 1.19. Extended leg TLP(Courtesy ABB)

Tension Leg Platform technology preserves many of the operational advantages of

a fixed platform while reducing the cost of production in water depths up to about
4900 ft or 1500 m. Its production and maintenance operations are similar to those
of fixed platforms. However, TLPs are weight sensitive and may have limitations on
accommodating heavy payloads.

A conventional TLP is towed to an offshore well site upright at its displacement draft,
and then ballasted down so that the tendons may be attached to the TLP at its four
corners. The mode of transportation of TLP allows the deck to be joined to the TLP
at dockside before the hull is taken offshore.

> Read full chapter

Technical and operational knowledge

Gerardo Portela da Ponte Jr, in Risk Management in the Oil and Gas Industry, 2021

3.2.6.3 Tension leg (TLP and SPAR platforms)

Tension leg platforms (TLPs) are floating platforms that combine the buoyancy
forces (generated by displacement resulting from the draft—submerged part of the
hull), with the tensile forces generated by tubular cables connected to the hull and
anchored on the seabed. This combination of forces reduces the influence of water
motions, causing the rig to remain in its location under the forces resulting from
the thrust and tensile forces on the cables. As a result, such platforms can operate
on water depths exceeding 2000 m. A variation of this type of concept is the single
point anchor reservoir (SPAR) rig which, instead of being built with a hull similar to
the semisubmersible platforms, is built from a single cylindrical hull that likewise
keeps the rig under tensile forces.

> Read full chapter

Floating Offshore Platform Design

John Halkyard, in Handbook of Offshore Engineering, 2005

Motions
A TLP is highly compliant to lateral forces and, at the same time, is highly resistant to
vertical forces. Offset from lateral forces is not altogether different from surge/sway
response of any compliantly restrained floater. However, what is truly different for a
TLP is set-down. As discussed earlier (see fig. 7.47), this is a corresponding downward
motion, geometrically coupled to offset. Offset includes a steady component from
steady wind, current and drift forces. Dynamic offset includes wave frequency and
low frequency responses.

In the usual sense of floating structures, there are no heave or pitch motions.
However, as a mechanically elastic system, there are vertical and rotational responses
to the heave forces and pitch moments. Since the natural period in heave and pitch
is lower than the wave energy, global heave and pitch wave loads on the platform
are carried directly by the tendons. Wave energy close to the natural period of
the platform results in an amplified response at resonance known as “springing”.
While typically small, springing is usually not negligible and it is important for
the estimation of fatigue of the tendons and supporting structure (API RP2T). A
springing response of a TLP can also result in vertical accelerations, which affect
the comfort of personnel. Similar, but different in origin, is a second high frequency
response referred to as ringing. This results from an impulse load in an extreme sea
state, which will excite a transient response. The ringing response is important for
tendon extreme tension estimates.

The TLP dynamics, including both the high-frequency and low-frequency responses,
are addressed in other discussions in this handbook. Nevertheless, it is noted that
tendon response periods higher than 3 s should be avoided in the initial design.
To achieve this, tendons need sufficient stiffness relative to the TLP mass. This
precludes certain material for tendons and tends to pose limits on TLP water depth.

> Read full chapter

Offshore Platforms
James G. Speight, in Subsea and Deepwater Oil and Gas Science and Technology,
2015

3.3.7 Tension-Leg Platform

A TLP refers to the platform that is held in place by vertical, tensioned tendons
connected to the sea floor by pile-secured templates. TLPs consist of floating rigs
tethered to the seabed in a manner that eliminates most vertical movement of the
structure. The platform is buoyant and held in place by a mooring system. TLPs
are similar to conventional FPs except that the platform is maintained on location
through the use of moorings held in tension by the buoyancy of the hull. The
mooring system is a set of tension legs or tendons attached to the platform and
connected to a template or foundation on the seafloor. The template is held in place
by piles driven into the seafloor. This method dampens the vertical motions of the
platform, but allows for horizontal movements. The topside facilities (processing
facilities, pipelines, and surface trees) of the TLP and most of the daily operations
are the same as for a conventional platform. TLPs are used in water depths up to
about 6,000 ft. The typical TLP is a four-column design which looks similar to a
semisubmersible.

The basic design of a TLP includes four air-filled columns forming a square, which
are supported and connected by pontoons, similar to the design of a semisub-
mersible production platform. The buoyant hull supports the topside of the platform
and an intricate mooring system keeps the platform in place. The buoyancy of the
hull of the platform offsets the weight of the platform, requiring clusters of tight
tendons, or tension legs, to secure the structure to the foundation on the seabed.
The foundation is then kept stationary by piles driven into the seabed.

Since their inception in the mid-1980s, TLP designs have changed according to
development requirements—more recent designs also comprise the E-TLP, which
includes a ring pontoon connecting the four air-filled columns; the Moses TLP,
which centralizes the four-column hull; and the SeaStar TLP, which includes only
one central column for a hull—the SeaStar TLP is a widely used floating production
facility since TLPs are ideal for a broad range of water depths.

The main idea behind the design of the TLP is to assure that the vertical forces
acting on the platform are in balance, that is, fixed and variable platform loads plus
tendon tension are equal to its displacement. Positive displacement is obtained by
locking the platforms draft below the fixed and variable payload displacement draft.
This will result in an upward force applied to the tendons, thereby keeping them in
constant tension. As a consequence the vertical platform motion (heave) is almost
eliminated, except for motions resulting from tendon elasticity and vertical motion
as result of environmental introduced lateral platform motions. The tendons do
allow a lateral motion of the platform as a result of wind, wave, and current. This
motion is similar to an inverted pendulum except for the fact that the displacement
variation by pulling the hull down is giving a restoring force to the lateral movement.
The tendon tension is set within predefined values, or window of operation. If the
variable load of the platform exceeds these values by adding risers or drilling loads,
the tendon pretension is adjusted by reballasting of the platform. Consequently, the
hull is compartmented into void, machinery, and ballast spaces.

The tension leg mooring system allows for horizontal movement with wave distur-
bances, but does not permit vertical, or bobbing, movement, which makes TLPs a
suitable choice for stability, such as in the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico.

The platform deck is located atop the hull of the TLP—the topside of a TLP is the
same as a typical production platform, consisting of a deck that houses the drilling
and production equipment, as well as the power module and the living quarters. Dry
tree wells are common on TLPs because of the lessened vertical movement on the
platforms. Most wells producing to TLPs are developed through rigid risers, which
lift the crude oil and natural gas from the seafloor to dry trees located on the deck
of the TLP—SCRs are also used to tie-in the subsea flow lines and export pipelines.

An example of a TLP is Ursa platform (Shell Oil Company), anticipated to begin

production in 1999. This platform is installed in 4,000 ft of water, will have the depth
record for a drilling and production platform, and will be the largest structure in
the Gulf of Mexico. Other versions of the TLP include Proprietary versions include
the SeaStar and MOSES, which are mini TLPs and are relatively low cost, used in
water depths between 600 and 3,500 ft (200 and 1,100 m). The SeaStar platform is
a relatively low cost developed for production of smaller deep-water reserves that
would be uneconomic to produce using more conventional deep-water production
systems. It can also be used as a utility, satellite, or early production platform for
larger deepwater discoveries. SeaStar platforms can be used in water depths ranging
from 600 to 3,500 ft. British Borneo is planning to install the world’s first SeaStar
in the Gulf of Mexico in the Ewing Bank area at a water depth of 1,700 ft. British
Borneo refers to this prospect as Morpeth.

Mini TLPs can also be used as utility, satellite or early production platforms for
larger deepwater discoveries that would be uneconomic to produce using more
conventional deep-water production systems. It can also be used as a utility, satellite,
or early production platform for larger deepwater discoveries. SeaStar platforms can
be used in water depths ranging from 600 to 3,500 ft.

> Read full chapter

Offshore Structures (Marine Engineer-

ing)
James F. Wilson, in Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology (Third Edition),
2003

II.C Buoyant Structures

The tension leg platform (TLP) can be economically competitive with the compliant
tower for water depths between 300 and 1200 m. In this structure [Fig. 1(e)], the
buoyant force of the submerged pontoons exceeds the structure's total gravity or
deadweight loading. Taut, vertical tethers extending from the columns and moored
to the foundation templates on the ocean floor keep the structure in position during
all weather conditions. The heave, pitch, and roll motion are well restrained by the
tethers; but the motions in the horizontal plane, or surge, sway, and yaw, are quite
compliant with the motion of the waves. There are at present a total of three tension
leg platforms. The first production TLP was built 150  km off the coast of Scotland
in the mid-1980s. Conoco installed the Julliet in 1989, and Saga Petroleum installed
the Snorre near Norway in 1991. The tethers for the Snorre are 137 cm in diameter.
By the late 1990s, a total of eleven TLPs were installed, three in the North Sea and
eight in the Gulf of Mexico.

Another popular buoyant structure is the floating production system. Such struc-
tures are practical for water depths greater than 1200 m. but also at lesser depths
where the field life of the structure is relatively short. An example of a buoyant struc-
ture is the semisubmersible with fully submerged hulls [Fig. 1(f )]. Other examples
include ships converted to floating production systems. In the late 1960s, com-
panies initiated research and design for these semisubmersible, multihull tubular
structures and ships that would remain relatively stable in rough seas. In the late
1990s, the first three deep draft caisson vessels, or Spars, were installed for use in
180 m water depths. Spars are floating vertical cylinders that support production
decks above storm waves. These structures are controlled to remain essentially
still in stormy seas. A few of these structures are now operational. Some need
to be towed from place to place; others are self-propelled. During drilling and
production operations, these structures are kept in place with mooring lines and
thrusters. The computer-controlled thrusters monitor the mooring line forces and
accurately position the structure over the wellhead. One of the first semisubmersible
structures was the Sedco 709 with a water depth rating of 1800 m. The most recent
semisubmersibles using dynamic positioning are rated for 3000 m water depths.

A subsea production system provides an excellent alternative to a floating or a fixed

surface facility. Much of a subsea system rests on the ocean floor, and its production
of oil and gas is controlled by computer from a ship or other buoyant structure above
the subsea unit. The buoyant structure and the subsea unit are often connected by
a marine riser, which is discussed presently.

> Read full chapter

Introduction to offshore structures

Mohamed Abdallah El-Reedy Ph.D., in Offshore Structures (Second Edition), 2020

1.6.3 Tension-leg platform

A tension-leg platform (TLP) is a floating structure with a vertical special tie wire
to the seabed and is used for water deeper than 300 m (1000 ft.), and it is a more
economic solution for these water depths.
In the 1980s the first TLP was installed in the North Sea in Cononco’s Hutton field.
This TLP was constructed by two contractors as the hull was constructed in a dry
dock in the north of Scotland at Highland Fabricator’s Nigg yard and the deck was
constructed at Ardersier at McDermott’s yard. The Magnolia TLP was constructed in
a water depth of 1425 m (4674 ft.).

Fig. 1.10 presents a brief summary of different types of the platform structures and
their range depending on the water depth and function. These ranges change with
time as there are many researches and developments involved in the construction
of structures in deep water.

Figure 1.10. Different types of offshore structures.

Nowadays there is a major trend to use gas, which was not used 40 years ago but was
burnt off, therefore there are many projects aiming to discover gas for production
and so exploration has been extended to deep water, which is not matched by the
conventional steel structure platforms. Due to the requirement to produce from
the area in deep water, there are a lot of researches and development have been
done, by universities, owner companies and associated with engineering firms to
go through using a floating platform on the sea and connected it by a tension wires
to the seabed.

On the other hand, there are many platform shapes that have been constructed over
the years, such as minimum offshore structures with one pile by using the conductor
itself as a support with two inclined members as a support for the pile. In addition,
in the last 20 years many projects have used concrete gravity platforms by making
a platform from reinforced concrete structure and there are many researches and
structures using these types of platform.

This chapter gives an overview of all types of offshore structures that have been used
in oil and gas projects.
The chapter also focuses on the economics and policies that guide and direct these
projects.

Worldwide there is a relationship between the multinational petroleum industry

companies and the countries which own the oil and gas reserves, and usually there
is an agreement to share control between them. It is important to bear in mind that
most structural engineers are focused on the stresses, strains, structural analyses
and codes, and design standards, which are the main elements of their job, but
the creation of a solution and selecting the structure configuration and from the
other side matching the engineering office knowledge and capability with the owner
expectation are not necessarily part of their job description.

The contractors and the engineering firm, and also the engineering staff in the owner
organization, should be on the same page to achieve the owner target and goals.

The organization target and policies are based on the business target and profit, the
expected oil and gas reserve, the expected oil and gas prices, and the final important
factor the country which owns the land and the reserve. Therefore the terms and
conditions and the political situation in this country will direct the investment of
the project. Therefore any engineer working on this type of project should have a
helicopter view of all the constraints around the project as these constraints will
be a guide to the engineering solutions, options, and alternative designs, and this
overview is very important knowledge for the senior manager staff down to the junior
staff.

The load calculation is the first step in any structural analysis. The loads on platforms
are usually defined based on the owner specifications. Therefore there are some
studies that govern the loads and other technical practices which are discussed in
detail in Chapter 2, Offshore structure loads and strength.

To start the design of a offshore structure platform, it is required mainly to under-

stand the principles of the steel structure design and then understand the effect of
the environmental loads which is the major loads affect the offshore structures, all
these designs are illustrated within the scope of API, ISO19902, ISO, in Chapter 3,
Offshore structure platform design.

The foundation is very a critical element to the structure safety and it has many
variations and uncertainties, therefore Chapter 4, Geotechnical data and pile design,
presents many researches and studies that have been performed for the pile capacity
in offshore structures for sand and clay soil. All the tools and data required to
estimate the pile capacity by the different researches will be illustrated.

The construction of an offshore structure platform is very costly. The fabrication,

erection, launching, and installing of a platform are discussed in detail in Chapter
5, Fabrication and installation.
The corrosion of offshore structures is very critical and there are different types of
CP, and so it is required to choose the most suitable system for existing structures
and retrofitting projects. In addition, the design of the sacrificial anode and CP
system is presented in Chapter 6, Corrosion protection. Structural engineers usually
have a shortage of information in this area and will have to address corrosion in
the integrity system to maintain structural reliability. In this case corrosion is a
very important factor that should be understood by the maintenance engineer who
should be familiar with different CP systems and the main principles for selecting
the optimum corrosion protection system. This information will be very important
to ensure harmony in the teamwork with the corrosion engineer, who is responsible
for the design of the system and the construction group who carry out the system
installation. The maintenance engineer should know what the pitfalls are for each
system and from the readings of the CPCP during inspection they should have a
sense of the structure condition from a corrosion point of view.

Oil and gas platforms are facing a problem of aging as there are many platforms that
were constructed over 40 years ago, noting that API for a fixed offshore structure
platform design was started in 1969 and so all the old platforms were designed
according to the then-current engineering office experience.

It is worth remembering that companies are not using a reports and drawing from
20 years ago as they were hard copies which have been destroyed over time, and we
also need to remember that there was not the management of change policy as is
currently applied. Therefore there may not be drawings available which match the
actual condition. All these factors affect many rehabilitation projects worldwide, and
so this book has a separate chapter (Chapter 7: Assessment of existing structures
and repairs) to discuss in depth the assessment and evaluation of offshore structure
platforms. The risk-based inspection technique has been used recently as a tool to
establish a maintenance plan for platform fleet and the qualitative risk assessment
method is discussed in detail in Chapter 8, Risk-based inspection technique, as it
is a practical tool that can be used in conjunction with the risk-based inspection
technique.

> Read full chapter

Into Gulf Waters

Clyde W. Burleson, in Deep Challenge, 1999

Installing a tension-leg platform requires a special template foundation-anchoring

system which is set into the ocean floor. Once this is done, the platform is towed
into place and correct buoyancy is obtained. Divers secure the platform to the seabed
anchor through the use of tubular-steel tethers. The upward pull of the platform, as
it tries to float, stretches the tethers, placing them in tension. The taut tethers now
serve as legs to locate the platform and maintain its position. The semisubmerged
platform gains stability through its design and the tension it holds on the tubular
tethers.

> Read full chapter

Introduction
Kai-Tung Ma, ... Yongyan Wu, in Mooring System Engineering for Offshore Struc-
tures, 2019

1.4.1 Tension-leg platform (TLP)

The concept of TLP is a vertically moored floating platform that is suitable for water
depths between 1000 and 5000 ft. (Fig. 1.5). The platform is permanently moored
by tendons grouped at each corner of the hull. The tendons, which are tubular
steel pipes, have relatively high axial stiffness such that most vertical motion of the
platform is eliminated. This allows the platform to have the production wellheads on
deck (dry trees), connected directly to the subsea wells by rigid risers. This allows for
a simpler well completion, and gives better control over the production along with
easier access for downhole interventions.

The tendons provide the function of mooring lines, but are more like top-tensioned
riser pipes. Their installation requires precision and careful handling. In comparison,
conventional mooring components such as chain can be easily connected with piles
and prelaid on seabed long before the scheduled hook-up time.

> Read full chapter

Special Problems of Deep-Sea Oil and

Gas Engineering
Huacan Fang, Menglan Duan, in Offshore Operation Facilities, 2014

4.3.2.3 Wave Load Calculation for the Four-Column Type Ten-

sion Leg Platform Body
The four-column type tension leg platform is shown in Figure 4-42, and the main
geometrical and physical parameters are shown in Table 4-11. We take the wave
incident angle separately as . The frequency scope is . We will calculate the maximum
amplitude of the dimensionless wave load for different angles of incidence, and
analyze the wave load at the angle of incidence .

FIGURE 4-42. The mechanical structure of the four-column tension leg platform.

Table 4-11. The Main Geometrical and Physical Parameters of the Four-Column

Tension Leg Platform Type

Parameter Name Symbol Unit Value

The center distance be- m 86.25
tween the columns
Column radius m 8.435
Total height m 67.50
Working depth of im- m 35.0
mersion
Displacement t 54500
Platform weight kN 405000
The total tension pre- kN 137340
stressing of the tension
leg
Transverse metcentric m 6.0
height of the platform
Longitudinal metcentric m 6.0
height of the platform
The quality of the plat- t 4130
form
The transverse swing t·m2 8.4 × 107
and longitudinal swing
rotational inertia of the
platform
The vertical swing rota- t·m2 1.0 × 108
tional inertia of the plat-
form
The height between the m 38.00
barycenter and the cellar
deck
The initial length of the m 415.0
tension leg
The total vertical stif- kN/m 8.044 × 105
fness coefficient of the
tension leg
The total transverse kN·m/rad 1.5 × 109
swing and longitudi-
nal swing stiffness coef-
ficient of the tension leg
The vertical swing stif- kN·m/rad 2.12 × 109
fness coefficient of the
tension leg

1. The maximum amplitude of the dimensionless wave load for different an-
gles of incidence.According to diffraction theory, we calculated the maximum
amplitude of the dimensionless wave load for different angles of incidence
by using existing TWDF calculation software. For example, the computed
result for column 1 is shown in Table 4-12.Table 4-12. The Maximum Ampli-
tude of the Dimensionless Wave Load for the Different Angles of Incidence
of Column 12.0220.3990.990.4442.7101.7571.1510.991.622.4071.601.600.992.112.11Ac-
cording to this calculated data, we can see the following:a.For the double
column against the waves in the anterior column (i.e., column 1), when the
incident wave angle , Fy and are both maximum.b.When the incident angle of
the wave , and are both maximum.c. is not affected by the incident angle of
the wave.
2. The calculation of the dimensionless wave load for different angles of inci-
dence on the four columnsAlso using TWDF calculation software, we calculate
the dimensionless wave load for different angles of incidence on the ten-
sion leg platform’s four columns. Taking the incident angle as an example,
its computation result is shown in Figure 4-43. From the Figure 4-43 am-
plitude-frequency curve, we can see:a.When , the four-column tension leg
platform has a corresponding wave load at the modal direction of longitu-
dinal oscillation, transverse oscillation, vertical oscillation, transverse swing,
longitudinal swing, and vertical swing.b.The change function of the wave load
is different depending on the column because of the symmetry of structure.
The change functions of the wave load on the first and fourth columns are
the same. The change functions of the wave load for the second and third
columns are the same.c.The hydrodynamic interaction between each column
can be divided into the interference effect and the shadowing effect obviously.
The front column mainly has a shadowing effect on the back column, so as to
make the wave load acting on the back a little less than the wave load of the
single column. However, the back column mainly has an interference effect on
the front column. The wave interference force and torque of the front column
oscillate violently around the single column load curve.d.When , the wave
load of the four column group combination has a significant interference
effect and shadowing effect in the modal of longitudinal oscillation, transverse
oscillation, transverse swing, and longitudinal swing. However, the vertical
 direction of the wave load is less affected by group of column.FIGURE 4-43.
At , the amplitude-frequency curve of the dimensionless wave load on the four
columns.

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