EFFECT OF MOORING CONFIGURATIONS ON MOTION RESPONSES OF THE H-TYPE FLOATING BREAKWATER(H-FLOAT) IN RANDOM WAVES

This study focuses on the effect of mooring configurations of the H-Float in random waves. Laboratory tests were conducted with the aim to investigate the effect of mooring configurations on motion responses of the H-Float in random waves and to compare the motion responses of the H-Float moored by taut leg and catenary systems. The study of hydrodynamic responses of the H-Float in random waves is crucial as the test environment resembles the irregularity of the real seas. This study focuses only on the heave, surge and pitch movements, whilst the other motion responses were restricted. In order to quantify the motion responses of the H-Float, the Response Amplitude Operator (RAO) was utilized in the study. The RAO values for heave, surge and pitch obtained in the study will provide an insight on the extent of the movement of the H-Float subjected to various wave conditions. The results show that the motion responses of the H-Float are heavily affected by the mooring configurations and the wave period. The recorded RAO values show that the motion responses of the H-Float moored by taut leg system indicates lower RAO values of the heave, surge and pitch compare to the H-Float moored by catenary system. The peaked heave and surge RAOs for taut leg decreased with an increase of the B/L. Conversely, the surge RAOs for the catenary system increased with an increase of the B/L while the heave RAOs decreased with an increase of the B/L. However, the pitch RAOs for both mooring configurations carried no specific pattern with the changes in the B/L and wave periods. It is rather scarce and less predictable.