The Importance of Grid Convergence Studies in the Design of a Semi-Submersible Platform

The design of semi-submersible platforms for offshore oil and gas operations requires an iterative process between early-stage design, numerical simulation, measurements, and full-scale design. Early stage designs are evaluated using numerical simulations, which are typically validated using measurements of a scaled model tested in a wave tank. Full-scale semi-submersibles present a unique challenge, because of the sheer size of the structure. Since VIV measurements of full scale structures are not possible, numerical simulation plays an important role for evaluating vortex-induced vibration (VIV) effects in the appropriate physical regime. The quantification of error in numerical simulation results is limited to verification-type studies, in which the error is reduced by converging the solution on the computational grid. The importance of grid convergence studies in this field cannot be understated, since it is the only way to judge solution accuracy in the absence of measurement data at the full scale. In this paper, a method for a grid convergence study of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a model scale semi-submersible platform is presented, in which solutions are obtained using the ANSYS Fluent CFD solver. Five levels of grid refinement are used, with the finest mesh acting as the reference solution for the coarser four levels. Qualitative results of vorticity, pressure and Q-criterion (vortex identification) are presented. Quantitative results such as the nominal amplitude (A/D) of the sway motion are used for judging the convergence of the solution as the grid is refined.