A review on the numerical and experimental modeling of the floatover installations

Abstract

Floatover is a large deck installation method that the integrated deck is slowly transferred from the floatover vessel to the pre-installed substructure by falling tide or ballasting vessel. Compared with other installation methods, the floatover method has the advantages of high efficiency, economy and large lifting capacity, which has been widely used in both fixed and floating platforms. The inherently complex problems of floatover systems involve complex hydrodynamic interactions and nonlinear multi-body coupled dynamics. Establishing an accurate numerical or experimental model to investigate the dynamic responses of the vessel, topside, and substructure, the tension of the mooring system, and the impact loads of load buffer devices induced by environmental loads are essential to the design and field operation of floatover installations. In this review, we introduce the state-of-the-art progress of numerical and experimental modeling and analysis of floatover systems made by industrial and academic researchers, including the modeling and analysis of the load buffer devices, hydrodynamic analysis, and the analysis of the nonstationary nonlinear dynamical system. Finally, the major challenges and future research prospects of floatover are provided.