Experimental Study On The Hydrodynamic Interaction Between Two Floating Offshore Structures Moored Together And Subjected To Regular Wave

The use floating production systems in the offshore oil and gas has been predicted to grow at a significant rate. The hydrodynamic interaction between waves and two floating offshore structures is studied experimentally. One practical example for such case is the Kikeh Project. The Kikeh field is located 120km northwest of the island of Labuan, offshore Sabah, East Malaysia in water depth of around 1300m.
This study is mainly focus on experimental studies on the dynamic motions of the connected truss spar and Semi-submersible subjected to regular waves. First and foremost, two models, basically one for truss spar and another one is for Semi-submersible were designed. Related to the models, to design the models need to use Froude modelling law to scale down the platform prototypes and the environmental conditions. The model tests were performed in the wave tank located in the Offshore Laboratory of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. In the experiment the models were subjected to regular waves and limited to long crested waves. In addition, static offset and free decay tests will be conducted to measure the stiffness of system and coefficient value respectively. The dynamic motions of the two floating platforms in the six degree of freedom and the tension in mooring line are measured.