Statistics of TLP Tendon Tension Behaviour During Hurricane Lili

Hurricane Lili permitted an assessment of the global performance of several deepwater structures under a major environmental event. The US Minerals Management Service (MMS) commissioned American Global Maritime Inc. (AGMI) to collect and assess information on the performance of the deepwater production facilities that were impacted by Lili. The Shell Brutus Tension Leg Platform (TLP) provided comprehensive measurements of winds, motions and tendon tensions during Lili. The tendon tension data recorded was analyzed in both the time and frequency domain and tendon tension statistics were comparable to the relevant design values. Other relevant comparisons included natural period and damping estimates. Overall the design ‘recipe’ adopted for Brutus was sufficient to prevent exceedance of design capacities and damage to the hull structure and tendons during Hurricane Lili. The lessons learned from the analyses and recommendations for further work are also summarized in this paper.