Nonlinear Analysis Of Offshore Structures

The importance of accounting for nonlinear effects in offshore structures has increased due to their higher utilization and extended service lives. This text addresses new methods for advanced analysis of offshore structures developed during the 1990s.

This monograph provides a general background to the modelling of a special class of offshore structures known as compliant structures. External forcing is resisted by buoyancy and tension forces which increase when the structure is slightly offset from its equilibrium. The technical development given in this book is presented in such a way as to highlight the adaptability of the modelling, and the reader is shown how the techniques described can be applied to a variety of different offshore structures.

The responses of offshore structures are significantly affected by steep nonlinear waves, currents and wind, leading to phenomena such as springing and ringing of TLPs, slow drift yaw motion of FPSOs and large oscillations of Spar platforms due to vortex shedding. Research has brought about significant progress in this field over the past few decades and introduced us to increasingly involved concepts and their diverse applicability. Thus, an in-depth understanding of steep nonlinear waves and their effects on the responses of offshore structures is essential for safe and effective designs.This book deals with analyses of nonlinear problems encountered in the design of offshore structures, as well as those that are of immediate practical interest to ocean engineers and designers. It presents conclusions drawn from recent research pertinent to nonlinear waves and their effects on the responses of offshore structures. Theories, observations and analyses of laboratory and field experiments are expounded such that the nonlinear effects can be clearly visualized.

The purpose of this book is to report the state-of-the-art of the available and emerging techniques for the determination of extreme responses of a marine structure. This book is intended to be a textbook on the analysis of nonlinear problems generally encountered in an offshore structure design. The book stresses the application of nonlinear theories to practical design problems.

A reference for architects and engineers, this work covers themes on architecture, case studies, and the application and strengths of tubular beams.

Outlines the theoretical basis for modelling nonlinear dynamics in a range of compliant offshore structures, and details the application of the theory to the physical environment.