Flexible Riser Response Induced by Springing of an FPSO Hull

The hydrodynamic analysis of the flexible riser for offshore application is usually limited to the first order wave frequency motions of the floating vessel that holds the riser top end. In this paper effort is made to investigate the influence of non-linear second order springing deflection of the production vessel hull on flexible riser response. The system selected in this study consists of a free-hanging flexible riser configuration attached to an FPSO. Due to resonance between the excitation wave frequency and the natural vibration frequency of the hull, second order flexible vertical motions of the FPSO increase. This may influence the riser loads, presumably the tension force. Vertical motions including the second order high frequency contribution are assigned to the flexible riser at a point of attachment to the vessel. To account for the environmental loading, irregular sea is applied, characterized by modified linear wave spectrum. Second order excitation wave spectrum is truncated by use of WAFO routines for random second order wave simulation and an analytical form of the spectrum that accounts for the non-linear wave effects is proposed. Several environmental conditions are examined in order to consolidate the tendency in riser behaviour. The significance of the high-frequency quadratic terms in the loads along the flexible riser is discussed.