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Ocean Systems Engineering
  Volume 1, Number 4, December 2011 , pages 263-283
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/ose.2011.1.4.263
 

The structural safety assessment of a tie-down system on a tension leg platform during hurricane events
Chan K. Yang and M.H. Kim

 
Abstract
    The performance of a rig tie-down system on a TLP (Tension Leg Platform) is investigated for 10-year, 100-year, and 1000-year hurricane environments. The inertia loading on the derrick is obtained from the three-hour time histories of the platform motions and accelerations, and the dynamic wind forces as well as the time-dependent heel-induced gravitational forces are also applied. Then, the connection loads between the derrick and its substructure as well as the substructure and deck are obtained to assess the safety of the tie-down system. Both linear and nonlinear inertia loads on the derrick are included. The resultant external forces are subsequently used to calculate the loads on the tie-down clamps at every time step with the assumption of rigid derrick. The exact dynamic equations including nonlinear terms are used with all the linear and second-order wave forces considering that some dynamic contributions, such as rotational inertia, centripetal forces, and the nonlinear excitations, have not been accounted for in the conventional engineering practices. From the numerical simulations, it is seen that the contributions of the second-order sum-frequency (or springing) accelerations can be appreciable in certain hurricane conditions. Finally, the maximum reaction loads on the clamps are obtained and used to check the possibility of slip, shear, and tensile failure of the tie-down system for any given environment.
 
Key Words
    safety; tie-down system; derrick; wind-inertia-gravity loading; slip-shear-tensile failure; hurricane; second-order sum-frequency wave forces.
 
Address
Chan K. Yang : Technip, Houston, TX, USA
M.H. Kim : Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
 

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