NATIONAL PROGRAM ON TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING (NPTEL) IIT MADRAS

Offshore structures under special environmental loads including fire-resistance

Week four: Special loads-II

Tutorial 4
Part A: Objective questions (10 marks)
1. One of the main components that govern earthquake loads is ____________.
2. ____________spectrum can be used to analyze offshore structures under seismic
excitations.
3. Displacement caused by earthquake forces in the horizontal plane shall have lesser
consequences than that in the _____________.
4. Wave elevation is realized as the discrete sum of many sinusoidal functions, different
angular frequencies, and______________.
5. Compliant structures that are position-restrained by tethers will be subjected to
dynamic __________under the presence of earthquake forces.
6. Earthquakes give rise to horizontal and vertical motions for a typical duration of
__________.
7. Earthquakes can result in inertia forces due to the acceleration and

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___________forces due to the motion of the water particles.
8. Earthquake acceleration exhibits random characteristics due to __________.

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9. Any system subjected to earthquake loads can be analyzed in time domain by
________________.
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10. Ground acceleration causes ________________and indirect load on the system.
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Part B: Write brief answers (10 marks)

1. Briefly describe the various assumptions considered for the design of offshore
structures under seismic loads.
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2. What are the critical issues concerned with the analysis of offshore platforms under
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high sea waves

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3. Briefly describe the structural action of offshore platforms under seismic excitation.
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4. Briefly describe the various design requirements of offshore structures.

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5. Distinguish between the forces that arise during transportation and launching of an
offshore compliant platform.
NATIONAL PROGRAM ON TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING (NPTEL) IIT MADRAS
Offshore structures under special environmental loads including fire-resistance

Tutorial-4-Key
Part-A
1. Ground acceleration
2. Kanai-Tajimi Power spectrum (K-T spectrum)
3. Vertical plane
4. Random phase angles
5. Tether tension variations
6. 15 to30 s.
7. Damping
8. (i) Nature of the mechanism causing earthquakes; (ii) Wave propagation; (iii)
Reflection, and (iv) Deflection.
9. Step-by-step algorithm
10. Displacement
Part-B
1. Assumptions for design of offshore structures under seismic loads

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a) Seabed movement is horizontal.
b) Earthquake does not cause movement of ocean surface appreciably.

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c) Second-order forces that can be developed in waves because of seabed movement is
neglected.
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d) Additional wave forces that occur due to seabed movement are generally neglected
e) Wind-generated wave forces are alone considered.
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f) If the structural member is slender, it does not produce waves of appreciable
amplitude by their motion. Hence, radiation damping is neglected.

2. Difficulties during analysis of offshore platform under high sea waves

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 Sea surface elevation as an input is critical to evaluate.

 Shape of the wave should be steep.
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 Wave should be asymmetric with respect to both vertical and horizontal axis.
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 Shape of experimentally observed extreme waves is different significantly from that

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of the computed ones (Carl et al. 2002).

 No symmetric model is available to classify the asymmetric waves.
 Nonlinear kinematic wave theory should be used.
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3. Offshore platform response under seismic excitation

Ground acceleration causes displacement and indirect load on the system.
Earthquakes do not cause any direct force on the system but displace the system at the
connection point, which induces forces. The main component that governs
earthquake loads is the ground acceleration, which is considered as:
• Zero mean, ergodic, and Gaussian process.
• Any system subjected to earthquake loads can be analyzed in the time domain by a
step-by-step algorithm.
• An actual earthquake record should be used, as far as possible.
• The process is assumed to be stationary for a time step of 20–50 s.
• Kanai-Tajimi power spectrum can be used for the analysis of offshore structures.
Once the spectrum of ground acceleration is known, wave radiation damping and
inertia effects of the fluid-structure interaction should be accounted for. Offshore
NATIONAL PROGRAM ON TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING (NPTEL) IIT MADRAS
Offshore structures under special environmental loads including fire-resistance

structures must be analyzed under the consideration of wave loads and seismic loads.
The following assumptions are made during the analysis of offshore structures under
seismic loads.
(i) The seabed movement is horizontal.
(ii) Earthquake does not cause movement of ocean surface appreciably.
(iii) Second-order forces that can be developed in waves because of seabed movement
is neglected.
(iv)Additional wave forces that occur due to seabed movement are generally
neglected.
(v) Wind-generated wave forces are alone considered.

4. Design requirements of an offshore platform.

The following is a list of data required for the design of offshore structures:
a) Land topographical survey of sufficient area covering the chosen site for
platform installation

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b) Hydrographical survey of the proposed location. Hydrographic charts are used
for this purpose

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c) Information regarding silting at the site
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d) Wind rose diagram showing information on wind velocities, duration, pre-
dominant direction year-round
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e) Cyclonic tracking data showing details of the past cyclonic storms, such that
wind velocities, direction, peak velocity period, and so on, are indicated
f) Oceanographic data including general tide data, tide tables, wave data, local
current, seabed characteristics, temperature, rainfall, and humidity
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g) Seismicity level and values of acceleration

h) Structural data of existing similar structures, preferably in the near vicinity
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i) Soil investigation report

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5. Transportation forces and launching forces

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Transportation forces
These forces are generated when platform components (jacket, deck) are transported
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offshore on barges or self-floating. They depend on the weight, geometry, and support
conditions of the structure (by barge or by buoyancy) and also on the environmental
conditions (waves, winds, and currents) that are encountered during transportation,
that is, the types of motion that a floating structure may experience. To minimize the
associated risks and secure safe transport from the fabrication yard to the platform
site, it is important to plan the operation carefully by considering the following (API-
RP-2A):
Previous experience along the tow route
Exposure time and reliability of predicted “weather windows”
Accessibility of safe havens
Seasonal weather system
Appropriate return period for determining design wind, wave, and current
conditions, taking into account characteristics of the tow such as size, structure,
sensitivity, and cost
Launching forces
These forces are generated during the launch of a jacket from the barge into the sea
and during the subsequent upending into its proper vertical position to rest on the
NATIONAL PROGRAM ON TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING (NPTEL) IIT MADRAS
Offshore structures under special environmental loads including fire-resistance

seabed. The five stages of jacket motion in a launch-upending operation are (i) the
jacket slides along the skid beams; (ii) rotates on the rocker arms; (iii) rotates and
slides simultaneously; (iv) detaches completely and comes to its floating equilibrium
position; and (v) is upended by a combination of controlled flooding and simultaneous
lifting by a derrick barge. Both the static and dynamic loads for each stage of the
above under the action of wind, waves, and current need to be included in the
analysis. To start the launch, the barge must be ballasted to an appropriate draft and
trim angle and subsequently the jacket must be pulled toward the stern by a winch.
Sliding of the jacket starts as soon as the downward force (gravity component and
winch pull) exceed the friction force. Because the jacket slides, its weight is supported
on the two legs that are part of the launch trusses. The support length keeps
decreasing and reaches a minimum, equal to the length of the rocker beams, when
rotation starts. It is generally at this instant that the most severe launching forces
develop as reactions to the weight of the jacket. During the last two stages, variable
hydrostatic forces arise, which have to be considered for all members affected.
Buoyancy calculations are required for every stage of the operation to ensure fully
controlled, stable motion. Computer programs are available to perform the stress

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analyses required for launching and upending and also to portray the whole operation
graphically.

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