Effect of Polyester Mooring Stiffness on SCR Design for FPSO Application

Abstract

Polyester rope is a visco-elastic material and its stiffness is affected by mean tension, tension amplitude, loading period, and loading history. Qualitatively it may be felt that rope stiffness significantly affects vessel offset, which in turn affects riser performance and cost. However, a systematic investigation of the impact of rope stiffness on riser stress and fatigue life has not been published for a wide variety of design conditions. This paper describes such a study, and provides specific guidance to designers for the prudent selection of a rope stiffness model and values to achieve safe and cost effective riser design. This study investigated the effect of polyester rope stiffness on steel catenary riser (SCR) design for an FPSO sited in a variety of water depths considering environmental conditions representative of West Africa. Static/dynamic stiffness models for polyester rope in the recently issued ABS Guidance Notes on the Application of Fiber Rope for Offshore Mooring [1] were used in a global analysis to provide motion responses for the riser analysis. Time domain riser analysis was performed to obtain maximum riser stress and fatigue damage under various conditions. Based on the results of the investigation of riser and mooring analysis, guidance on the impact of rope stiffness to the riser design has been developed.