Numerical Prediction of Air Gap Response of Floating Offshore Structures Using Direct Boundary Element Method

The air gap response and potential deck impact of ocean structures under waves is the main topic of this research. In this paper, an analytical prediction of the air gap for floating offshore structures using direct Boundary Element Method (BEM) is presented. The main advantage of direct boundary element method is the fact that one can determine the total velocity potential directly. Direct BEM is more versatile and computationally more efficient than indirect BEM. Besides, the direct BEM can easily be coupled with other numerical methods, e.g. finite element method (FEM) in order to carry out structural analysis of the platform’s deck due to possible impact. Firstly, the direct boundary element method will be reviewed. Secondly, the boundary value problem of interaction between regular sea waves and a semi-submersible and air gap responses due to the motion of the platform and the local wave elevations (including both radiation and diffraction waves) will be described. Then, the direct boundary element method will be applied to predict of the air gap at different field points of ALBORZ semi-submersible drilling unit, which is the largest semi-submersible drilling platform under construction for a location in the Caspian Sea, North of Iran. In addition, the results obtained from the direct BEM will be compared with those obtained by the designers of the ALBORZ semi-submersible. To determine the influence of the structure’s motions on the air gap, the results for both fixed and free-floating structure cases will be compared. Physical simulations using model will be carried out in the future in order to compare the results of the experiments with predictions.