Abstract
This study examined the effects of wind loads on a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, focusing in particular on the impact of the turbulent wind profiles, the level of details of the topside structures, and the operation modes of the gantry cranes. A series of wind tunnel tests were performed on the FPSO vessel model, developed with a scale of 1:200. It was observed that the wind loads measured using a low-detail model were often greater than those measured using a high-detail model. The measured wind loads corresponding to the Norwegian Maritime Directorate (NMD) profile with an exponent of 0.14, were approximately 19% greater than those corresponding to the Frøya profile in the entire range of wind directions, because of the slightly higher mean wind speeds of the NMD profile. The wind forces increased by up to 8.6% when the cranes were at operating mode compared to when they were at parking mode. In view of the observations made regarding the detail level of the tested models, a medium-level detail FPSO model can be considered adequate for the wind tunnel testing if a high-detail model is not available.
Highlights
A floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel used by the offshore oil and gas industry remains positioned at one site for long periods of time amidst frequent harsh environmental conditions, and is generally not transported to alternate locations to escape severe storms
This study aims to investigate the effects of physical modeling and the level of modeling details in the wind tunnel test of an FPSO vessel model, the effects of turbulent wind profiles, the level of detail of topside structures, and the operation modes of gantry cranes on the aerodynamic forces and moments
All of the aerodynamic forces and moments measured in the wind tunnel tests were converted into aerodynamic coefficients using Equations (3) and (4)
Summary
A floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel used by the offshore oil and gas industry remains positioned at one site for long periods of time amidst frequent harsh environmental conditions, and is generally not transported to alternate locations to escape severe storms. An accurate evaluation of wind loads experienced by the floating offshore structures is extremely important in the FPSO mooring system and motion analysis. The engineers usually perform calculations as per the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) or American Petroleum Institute (API) specifications [3]. These loads are primarily assessed by conducting wind tunnel tests using scaled models
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