Measurements of global and local effects of wave impact on a fixed platform deck. (February 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Abdussamie, Nagi; Ojeda, Roberto; Thomas, Giles; Amin, Walid
• Is Part Of: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Volume 231:Number 1(2017:Feb.)
• Page Start: 212
• Page End: 233
• Publication Date: 2017-02
• Subjects: Tropical cyclones -- offshore platforms -- wave-in-deck impact loads; Marine engineering -- Periodicals; 623.805
• DOI: 10.1177/1475090216636410
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1475-0902

Abstract

This article describes a series of model tests conducted to examine extreme wave events associated with tropical cyclonic conditions and their impacts on an offshore deck structure. Extreme waves of a representative cyclonic sea state were examined in a towing tank within long-crested irregular wave trains. Experimental results presented include global forces and localised slamming pressures acting on a rigidly mounted box-shaped deck, which represents a simplified topside structure of a tension leg platform. The effect of static set-down on the still-water air gap was investigated by applying an equivalent reduction for the deck clearance. It was found that a small reduction of 20 mm (2.5 m full scale) in the original deck clearance can lead to a doubling of the magnitude of the horizontal force and the vertical upward-directed force components, as well as significantly increased slamming pressures in many locations on the deck underside.