WAVE TESTS AND NONLINEAR REGRESSION ANALYSIS FOR ESTIMATION OF HYDRODYNAMIC COEFFICIENTS FOR OFFSHORE JACKET PLATFORMS

Adaptations in the design and reliability analysis of jacket platforms are gaining
importance in the economical perspective, due to the discovery ofnew shallow water
oil fields and aging of existing oil and gas assets. This research is focused on
improving the design of offshore jacket platforms by the conclusions and
recommendations made from an experimental study on the hydrodynamic force
coefficients. Majority ofthe members on ajacket platform are slender cylinders with
circular cross-section. Critical part in the estimation ofwave forces on small diameter
cylindrical structures employing Morison equation, is the determination of precise
hydrodynamic force coefficients. Wave tank tests were conducted in the offshore
laboratory facility of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. Model cylinders were tested
in both regular and random, unidirectional waves. Total wave forces acting on the
model cylinders were measured by a wave force sensor named Wave Force Totaller,
which was developed exclusively for use in the experimental works reported.