Jacking systems

function and requirements

By
J. Andrew Breuer

Introduction

This presentation is directed to ABS engineers with the purpose of understanding the function
and requirements on the jacking system. It is not the purpose of this document to guide in the
design of Jack-up rigs, or any component of the jacking system. It is however, intended to
give a global view of the purpose and relationship between some of the operating aspects of
these units.

Self-elevating units

There are records of self-elevating units as early as the 1800’s, but it was the development of
the offshore oil exploration that promoted the construction of the great majority of the
existing units. Before the delivery of the first jack-up drilling unit (Mr. Gus), a few of these
platforms had been commissioned by the US Navy to be used as mobile piers. The first jack-
up drilling unit, built by the DeLong Company in 1954, was rapidly followed by designs by
Bethlehem Steel and R. J. LeTourneau. Since then, some one-thousand drilling units have
been built and about half remain in operation; 390 of them are drilling units.

While most of them are drilling units, other jack-up are in operations as service vessels for
civil construction and general services to the offshore industry. Of those working in the oil
patch, the most frequent are small, self-propelled units that are commonly known as
“liftboats.”

Jacking system types

There are several jacking system concepts but two

types of jacking systems that include most
installations; stroke, and rack-and-pinion. In the
context of this writing, “unit” applies to the elevating
mechanism and “system” refers to the unit and the
supporting electrical and hydraulic equipment and
their controls.

Stroke Type

The stroke (sometimes known as “Poke & Stroke”) is

seldom used on modern drilling units but often found
in older rigs. The most common designs - such the
Bethlehem type shown below - consist of a number of
 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

hydraulic cylinders, all connected at the upper end to a structural ring and to the platform at
the lower end. The ring structure, known as the yoke, is built around and moves along the
length of the leg. A set of locks connect the yoke to the leg and to the platform. The jacking
consists on a sequence of strokes that alternate between jacking and relocating the cylinder.
Some of the older jacking systems, locked to the leg via a pneumatic “grip” that depended on
the friction between the grip and a smooth cylindrical leg.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Stroke cycle: 1-Fixed pins engaged, yoke pins out. 2 and 3 - The cylinders extend and the yoke
is jacked up to the next ring of pin holes. 4 – The yoke pins are engaged and the fixed pins
retracted. 5 – The cylinders are contracted and the platform climbs one stroke up until the fixed
pins are lined up with the next ring of pinholes. 6 – Step 1 is repeated

Rack-and pinion

The rack and pinion is used the most frequently used on almost all modern jack-up units. It
consists of a motor, a gearbox, and a climbing pinion that acts on a rack, welded to the leg.
Additionally, these units can have an electromechanical brake that acts on the motor end of
the gearbox. The sketch at right depict the main components of a LeTourneau jacking unit

The units are built into tandems such that there are several pinions
on each rack. Each leg can have one to four racks, depending on
the geometry and design. Some systems are also complemented
with a “rack chock”. This consists of a piece of rack that
mechanically attached to the rig hull and that is placed with the
teeth inserted in the troughs of the leg rack. The system on the
below (built by K-Fels) shows the four pinions and the rack-chock
equipment.

The jacking gear, together with the electrical equipment, the LeTourneau single pinion
unit showing in sequence,
hydraulic power pack (if there is one), the rack chock actuators, brake, motor. Reduction
and the controls the main components of the “Jacking System” gear, planetary gears and
climbing pinion
ABS review and approval

Jacking system approval is required for every installation but the jacking unit is approved
once in a process similar to a type approval. Once the gear has been reviewed, the approval is
extended to each installation. The approval of the jacking unit consists on the design review,

Page 2 of 19 Revised: 1 September 2004

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

including materials testing, heat and surface

treatment. A prototype gear must be successfully
tested at 150% of the rated load.

The structural, electrical, and hydraulic systems

plans are reviewed for each rig design. As part of
the acceptance by the ABS Surveyor, the rig is
jacked up to the top of the legs during
commissioning tests.

Finally, the loading of the jacking gear is verified

during the structural analysis review and the
review of the operations manual

Jacking unit rating

The jacking units, by Rule, must be rated for three

operating conditions:
• Jacking
• Holding
• Storm Holding

Additionally, the jacking system may be rated for other modes that may be specific to the
design. The most frequent additional mode is “emergency jacking”.

The most frequent used rack and pinion jacking systems are shown in the following table.

Storm
Jacking Unit Jacking Holding Special rating
Holding
Maker /model
Kips
LeTourneau 375
LeTourneau 440 (Rack & Chock) 400 400 830
LeTourneau 1000
Baker Marine 650 650 1200
K-Fels
Brissonneau & Lotz C150 1000 1600 Jacking w/pre-load 1300
National Supply 440 440 1000 Emergency jacking 500 kips
Philadelphia 7DB-12M 760 760 1265
MIF 307
MIF 407

Page 3 of 19 Revised: 7 May 2007

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

Service Life

In addition to the rating at the various modes, jacking units are designed for a service life.
The main reason for this is that fatigue is a controlling factor in the design of all the
mechanical parts. Fatigue is a factor when the system operates at relatively high loads.
Unless otherwise noted, the design life is expected to be 20 years. This service life is
converted to operating hours. The relationship of the design service life and operating hours
depend on the service. Two examples:

Conventional full size jack-up drilling unit:

Design number of jacking on site cycles per year: .............................................10
Average air-gap:..................................................................................................50 Feet
Assumed number of preload and level cycles per jacking:...................................2
Height climbed for each preload and level: ½ draft + 4 Ft = ½ x 15 + 4............11.5 Feet
Total height climbed up and down per site = 2 x 50 + 2 x 2 x 11.5 ..................146 Feet
Total climbing in one year = 10 x 146 Ft........................................................1460 Feet
Total climbing in 20 years = 20 x 1460: .......................................................29200 Feet
Jacking speed:.......................................................................................................1.5 Feet/min
Jacking time in 20 years: 29200 Ft/1.5 Ft/min = 19466 min ≈ .........................324 hours

Conventional liftboat:
Expected jacking cycles per year:.....................................................................100
Average air-gap:..................................................................................................30 Ft
Assumed number of preload and level cycles per jacking:...................................2
Height climbed for each preload and level: ½ draft + 2 Ft = ½ x 8 + 2................6 Feet
Total height climbed up and down per site = 2 x 30 + 2 x 2 x 6.........................84 Feet
Total climbing in one year = 100 x 84 Ft........................................................8400 Feet
Total climbing in 20 years = 20 x 8400: .....................................................168000 Feet
Jacking speed:.......................................................................................................6 Feet/min
Jacking time in 20 years: 168000 Ft/6 Ft/min = 56000 min ≈ ..........................465 hours

Redundancy

Quoting from the 2004 MODU Rules:

The elevating system on self-elevating units is to be designed and constructed

with sufficient redundancy so that upon failure of any one component, the
system will be capable of continuing to jack or holding in place.

This, in practice, requires the jacking system to have enough capacity to perform after the
malfunction of a pinion or a cylinder. This requirement was adopted with the 1980 MODU
Rules; therefore, many designs have not been verified to meet this expectation. Several
jacking units have demonstrated that they have sufficient reserve in the design loads to be able
to temporarily operate under the additional load created when one jacking unit is out of
service.

Page 4 of 19 Revised: 1 September 2004

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

Typical jacking operation

While the jacking system may be operated in many different circumstances, the design
operation for a self-elevating unit consists on the transit (see A in the figure below).to a
specified location and jacking-up. Once elevated it must be able to operate or switch to a
storm survival condition within the time provided by the predictability of bad weather.

Once the unit has been moved to the selected location, a conventional independent three or
four leg jack-up follows the following steps:
1. Lowering the legs
2. Leg contact with the sea bed
3. Jacking up to minimum air-gap
4. Preload and leveling
5. Jacking to safe air-gap

Each of these stages has different requirements for the jacking system.

Stage 1 - lowering the legs

This operation (see B in the illustration above) is no great demand on the elevating
equipment. The climbing pinion is only loaded with the leg weight and this load decreases as
the buoyancy increases. This process can be quite lengthy as the lowering speed can be 1 to
two feet per minute. In 300 feet water depth, this takes nominally, 3 to 6 hours.

Stage 2 - Leg contact with the sea bed

The contact between the footing and the sea bed can be demanding if the motions of the rig
result in high impact loads. All rigs have limiting sea states for this operation to avoid
damage to the footing, the leg, and the elevating equipment.

Page 5 of 19 Revised: 7 May 2007

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

Stage 3 - Jacking to a minimum Gap

Once the footings make contact with the sea bed, the operator continues lifting the unit to a
level that will ensure that the legs are firmly pressed against the bottom (see C in the
illustration above). As the hull is elevated and the draft and the buoyancy will decrease and,
the load on the legs will increase. The table of hydrostatics usually provides a property called
“Tons per Inch (or Tonnes per Cm). This is the rate at which buoyancy will reduce (and load
on the legs increase)

Stage 4 - Preload and leveling

This stage mainly applies to independent legs jack-up. Mat-supported rigs follow al other
stages of jacking but, with the mat, the bottom bearing pressure is so low that preload is not
needed.

On independent leg rigs, each leg is likely to penetrate the bottom differently. This means that
to maintain the rig level, the leg needs to be adjusted individually.

To ensure that the rig can survive a storm, the maximum load that each leg could take is
established during design. The calculation of such loads is quite complex and it includes the
gravity load (weight of the loaded platform), and the effect of wind, waves, and current. This
is done during the design to establish the worst case scenario and as part of the global strength
analysis. Often, these calculations are made for many combinations of wind speed and wave
heights and the results are presented in the operations manual to allow the operator to
establish the maximum capability of the rig according to the conditions in the operating site.

In addition to the rig structure, the capacity of the sea bed to absorb the maximum storm load
must be verified by testing. The way this is done is by “pre-loading” the rig by filling the
preload (ballast) tanks with sea water such that the load of each leg on the sea bed is at least
the predicted storm load.

The preloading is done while the platform is jacked-up to a minimum air gap – just enough to
clear the waves. In soft bottoms, legs will penetrate into the soil. Because the legs will break
in the sea bed unevenly, the unit may be set “out of level.” The operator follows with
dumping pre-load until the load on each leg equals the jacking capacity or less and jacks the
platform back to level. A few modern rigs have excess jacking capacity to allow jacking with
some or all of the preload water. Once the unit is leveled, the preload tanks are filled again.
The pre-ballast, dump, and level cycle may have to be repeated several times. Once the unit
has been preloaded, the unit is held preloaded in place for a number of hours. Once the soil
below the legs has been compacted, the operator completes the jacking until the required
elevation is achieved.

Four legged jack-up, can preload without filling preload tanks. Once they have elevated to
the minimum air gap, diagonally opposite legs are alternatively raised and lowered to rest
most of the elevated weight on the two “low” legs. If this sequence, if not followed correctly

Page 6 of 19 Revised: 1 September 2004

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

could lead to jacking at preload values. If the jacking capacity is not as high as the preload
requirement, the operation of preloading must be by relaxing the load of opposite legs. The
operations manual must provide guidance to avoid overloading the system on this sequence.

Despite the careful process, preloading sometimes fails to meet the intent. Such failure results
on the sudden loss of support under one leg and the rig leans heavily in one direction as the
leg sinks several feet below the level at preload. The event is usually called a “punch-
through”. When this happens, one or more legs suffer damages that can just be the failure of a
few braces or can be as serious as severe deformation of the entire leg. The most frequent
cause for punch-though is when the leg is supported by the collapse of a thin layer of hard soil
covering a sub-layer of soft clay.

Stage 5 - Jacking to safe air-gap

After preloading, the unit is elevated to the
working elevation (see D and E in the
illustration above). The air-gap (separation
between the bottom of the platform and the
sea level) must be high enough to clear the
crest of the maximum wave predicted. The
MODU Rules require that and air-gap be
secured between the crest and the hull; this,
after considering astronomical tide and storm
surge. The air-gap must be 4 feet but not less
than 10% of the crest elevation over the mean
low tide (combination of storm surge,
astronomical tide, and height of the maximum wave crest above the still water level.

As a rule-of thumb, and only for verification purposes, the maximum wave height (H) may be
estimated at twice the significant wave height (Hs), and that the crest is 0.6•H above the still
water level.

For example:
Site water depth................................................... 260 Feet
Significant wave height (Hs)................................. 25 Feet
Astronomical tide above mean low tide.................. 2 Feet
Storm surge ............................................................. 3 Feet

Therefore:
Maximum wave height ≈ 2•Hs.............................. 50 Ft
Height of the wave crest above mean water level
Hc = 0.6•Hs = 0.6•50 Ft ........................................ 30 Feet
Astronomical tide above mean low tide.................. 2 Feet
Storm surge ............................................................. 3 Feet
Crest elevation above the mean low tide............... 35 Feet
Air gap (4 Ft or 10% crest elevation)...................... 4 Feet

Page 7 of 19 Revised: 7 May 2007

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

Required elevation of the hull bottom above

mean low tide ------------------------------------------39 Feet

Frequently, the elevation above water is dictated by other reasons; the most frequent one
is to allow drilling over an existing platform. The photography above shows such a case.

Drilling and operation loads

Once the unit has been elevated on location, the jacking system is locked and the loads are
only restricted by the holding capacity. The following considerations are mostly for
illustration; in no case the load on a leg during operation should exceed the preload values.

The most frequent operation load on a drilling unit is the drilling load. During drilling, the
cantilever is extended backwards, and the substructure is moved laterally to drill on a precise
location. Two main loads must be considered during drilling; the load on the drilling derrick,
and the weight of the setback.

The derrick, which operates as a static crane, can have lifting capacity that can range from a
few hundred Kips to 2000 K. The load suspended from the derrick while drilling, is
suspended at the drill floor level when more pipe needs to be added to the drill string. From a
point of view or loading the rig, both loads are identical.

When the drill string needs to be removed from the well, the pipe that is made-up by 30 Ft
“joints”, is broken into 90 Ft sections, and placed standing on the drill floor. This is known as

Page 8 of 19 Revised: 1 September 2004

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

“tripping” the drill string, each pipe section is known as a “stand” that is set on the “setback”
and kept in place by the “fingers.”

Regardless of where the piping is placed, the total load is, at most, the capacity of the derrick.
In practice, limited by the strength of the cantilever beams, the full capacity of the derrick is
only available if drill floor is more or less centered between the beams and sometimes at less
that the full extension.

To prevent the crew from overloading of the cantilever beams, a “Cantilever Beam Chart” is
provided in the OM. The example below shows how the maximum load can be used in a
central area and how the load must be reduced as the center of the drill line is shifted to the
side and away from the barge stern.

Older drilling units where provided with a “slot” that allowed drilling over an exiting
platform. In these rigs, the drill floor can also be moved longitudinally and transversely but
without a cantilever beam, there are no restrictions on the maximum load other than the
derrick capacity

Page 9 of 19 Revised: 7 May 2007

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

Service jack-up rigs or liftboats do not have drilling loads but often have high capacity cranes.
These loads have to be considered but in no case, the load on a leg should exceed the preload
values

Environmental Loads

In addition to the gravity loads; the rig is subject to several external loads, three of them,
wind, waves, and current, are considered in the classification of most units but others, such as
seismic, are only contemplated in site specific evaluations.

The environmental loads are a specialized part of the structural analysis, and not part of this
document. However, some aspects need to be explained to complete the understanding of the
loads on the jacking system. In a static analysis, the sum of waves, wind and current is a
horizontal force that is equivalent to a horizontal shift of the center of gravity. This causes a

Page 10 of 19 Revised: 1 September 2004

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

redistribution of the load on the legs. Despite the change of load on each leg, the total vertical
load is not modified.

The complexity of the environmental load is increased by a number of secondary effects.

Because these loads occur after the jacking systems have been locked, the distribution of
loads to the various components is no even. That means that the loads on pins, rack chocks,
or pinions in any one leg are loaded differently. This picture is further complicated by effects
such as:
• Eccentric sea bed reactions
• Dynamic effects such as cyclic motions exited by the loads
• Legs deformed away from vertical (known as the P-delta effect) that is significant
when the platform is elevated high above the sea bed.
• Directionality and concurrence of the environmental loads.
• Synchrony between wave loads on two or more legs

The complexity of such analysis cannot be reduced to reliable rules-of-thumb. However, the
holding loads for the jacking system are calculated and documented at the design stage. From
the calculations the maximum leg reactions are established and the corresponding preload is
specified. The preload requirement is most often presented in the OM as one value (in kips or
tons per leg) that is satisfactory for the worst case analyzed.

The approved preload values are the ones to be used as the governing the storm holding
loads for the jacking system.

On the basis of the maximum load for each leg, the manual often provides guidance to
determine the combination of wind, waves, water-dept, and penetration that is allowed by the
design. Often this is presented as multiple entry tables or graphs. The Operator must verify
that the actual conditions in the intended site (and time of the year). While this comparison is
a valid one, a “site specific” analysis is also frequent. In such studies, the local conditions are
used to make a more accurate assessment of the rig capabilities.

Calculating Loads on the Jacking Equipment.

There are a number of aspects that need to be considered when evaluating the capacity of the
jacking system. These are some:

Load distribution per pinion. Most jacking units are designed to evenly distribute the load
in all pinions in one leg during jacking. Despite this design feature the distribution is not
perfect. Once the system is “holding”, the change of load distribution caused by the
environment loads the pinions is not even. The pinion that is most rigidly attached to the hull
is likely to take most of the load – usually it is the lowest pinion on the stack of elevators on

Page 11 of 19 Revised: 7 May 2007

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

each cord. In extreme conditions, the highest loaded pinion can take as much as 20% more
than the average load on that cord. If a rack chock is fitted, the rack is designed to take most
of the load. A similar phenomenon happens on stroke hydraulic units but these loads are
carried by the fixed pins and the issue is not a problem.

As indicated above, the design of the jacking unit is governed by the working loads and the
design fatigue life. Fatigue life depends on many parameters but materials, design details (to
reduce stress concentration), and working stress are the most important.

Working stresses. The influence of working stress on fatigue is not linear; working at
stresses close to the ultimate stress, fatigues the material rapidly; at very high loads, fatigue
cracks can develop after very few cycles. In contrast, steel parts loaded at 30% of the tensile
strength have unlimited fatigue life.

Because of that, jacking units with long service life are loaded at lower stress can better
tolerate overloading. Units designed to operate at higher stresses will fatigue sooner and have
less tolerance for overloading. These determinations, which are often supported by the
service history, should not be part of the acceptance process but provide latitude on other
considerations.

The sample Rig

This rig is fictitious, all weights are in Kips, all longitudinal positions are measured aft of the
forward end and all transverse distances are positive starboard of centerline
Length: ------------------------------------------------ 250 Feet
Beam: ------------------------------------------------- 210 Feet
Depth: ---------------------------------------------------25 Feet
Leg length: ------------------------------------------- 420 Feet
Loadline Draft:-----------------------------------------15 Feet
Displacement at 15 Ft Draft--------------------- 27513 Kips
Longitudinal Center of buoyancy ----------------- 148.70 Ft aft of fwrd end
Center of Legs --------------------------------------- 146.67 Ft aft of fwrd end
Area of the waterplane at 15 Ft Draft ---------- 28660 Sq.Feet

Page 12 of 19 Revised: 1 September 2004

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

Weight and LCG of rig and Full Load Condition

Weight LCG TCG VCG
Feet Feet Feet
Aft of Starboard Above BL
Item Kips
Forward from
End CL
Hull 10500 137.00 0.67 20.00
Legs 6700 146.67 0.00 70.00
Cantilever 1200 203.00 0.00 40.00
Substructure 1500 210.00 -2.30 96.00
Total Lightship 19900 149.74 0.18 43.77
Variable Deck Load 7613 146.00 -0.47 22.00
Displacement 27513 148.70 0.00 37.75

Jacking System
Type --------------------------------------Rack and pinion - opposing pinions
Number of pinions-------------------------------------36 pinions (12 per leg)
Jacking capacity ------------------------------------- 650 kips/pinion
Holding capacity------------------------------------1000 Kips/pinion
Storm holding capacity ----------------------------1200 kips/pinion

Jacking System capacity per leg after loss of a single component

Jacking -----------------------------------11 pinions x 700. = 7700 Kips
Holding ----------------------------------11 pinions x 1000 = 11000 Kips
Storm holding ---------------------------11 pinions x 1200 = 13200 Kips

Lowering Legs

The only load on the jacking system in this stage is the weight of the legs less than the
buoyancy of the legs. Therefore, the load of the jacking system must be less than
6700÷3 = 2233 Kips. This load is only a fraction of the jacking capacity (7150 Kips)
and not a concern on a normal jack-up.

Jacking

To verify the jacking capacity, the unit has to be assumed to be loaded at its Loadline draft (15
feet); in this case, 27513 Kips.

By design, the unit is assumed to transit at even keel; therefore, the center of gravity must
coincide with the center of buoyancy; 148.70 Ft aft of forward end. The loading calculation
table above reflects the transit condition.

The jacking load that corresponds to the above condition is the sum of all items without the
weight of the legs. The Calculation is reflected in the table of Elevated Loads below.

Page 13 of 19 Revised: 7 May 2007

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

Elevated Load
Weight LCG TCG VCG
Feet Feet
Feet
Item Kips Aft of Starboard
Above BL
Fwrd end from CL
Hull 10500 137.00 0.67 20.00
Legs Not part of the elevated load
Cantilever 1200 203.00 0.00 40.00
Substructure 1500 210.00 -2.30 96.00
Variable Deck Load 7613 146.00 -0.47 22.00
Elevated Load 20813 149.36 0.00 27.36

Calculate the load distribution in the legs

Take moments of all legs with respect to the

center of the forward leg:

RAFT x 130 – Elevated Load x 89.36 = 0

Therefore

RAft = 20813 Kips x 89.36 Ft ÷130 ft

RAft = 14307 Kips

Because this load applies to two legs each leg is

loaded with:

RAft (each side) = 14307 Kips÷ 2 = 7153 Kips

The forward leg is loaded with the balance of

the elevated load:

RFwrT = 20813 Kips – 14307 = 6506 Kips

Therefore the aft legs are the ones to check. The jacking rating, assuming the loss of a single
component is: 7700 Kips which is greater than the loading of the aft legs.

Holding and storm holding

Because the jacking operation is done in mild weather, the effect of wind and waves on the
jacking loads is ignored. Not so for the holding analysis.

Page 14 of 19 Revised: 1 September 2004

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

The calculation of the forces by wind,
waves and current is beyond this paper
but there is one principle that must be
clarified. These loads, especially wind,
have horizontal and vertical components.
However, for the purpose of most
calculations, only the horizontal
component is considered. If the vertical
component of the environmental forces is
neglected, the total vertical load remains
constant and therefore the same as
calculated for jacking. However, the
effect of the horizontal forces is that the
distribution of that total force is changed.
The effect of waves, has static component
and a dynamic. The waves act and an
exiting force that lead to alternative
loadings on the legs. The complexity of
this analysis is also beyond this paper but
it is of increasing significance on deep
water rigs (250 to 300 ft WD) as the
natural period of the elevated rig sway
approximates the wave period. The
dynamic effect can account for as much
as 1/3 of the total design load on a leg
Buoyant and non-buoyant legs and footings
Some hydrostatic tables include the buoyancy
of the leg and/spud can. The reasons for this
are many but not significant for this subject.
What is important is to account for the
buoyancy of the leg and the water that may be
in the footing. When the buoyancy of the
footing is included in the hydrostatics, the
footings are often filled with water. In such
case when calculating elevated and jacking
loads, the weight of water must be deducted
from the total displacement.
The concept of buoyancy is often confused
and leads to changing interpretation by
designers. Within ABS, a spud can that has
shell openings that allow the free exchange of
water with the surrounding sea is non-
buoyant. The level of liquid inside the spud
can is the same as the level of the se. This
spud can buoyancy cannot be included in the
buoyancy of the model. Spud cans that are
WT below the waterline that can be empty or
full are buoyant and the liquid inside the can
must be treated in the same way as the liquid
in a tank

Good practice (and the Rules) indicates that all legs

must be loaded; this verification is often referred as
“on-bottom stability.” In the case of the mat
supported rigs, the entire area of the mat must have
a positive bottom bearing pressure. In theory, it
could happen that the horizontal forces could unload
one leg whereby there would be no pressure on the
bottom and all the gravity load be resting on the
remaining legs.

The extreme loading condition of the legs is

calculated as part of the load and structural analysis.
One very important value determined by these
calculations is the amount of preload needed. The
purpose of this is to ensure that during preload operation the legs, or more accurately the soil
below the footing will be tested and compacted under the maximum load that may be
expected.

Page 15 of 19 Revised: 7 May 2007

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

The calculation on the required preload is summarized and included in the operations manual.
The format and detail changes from designer to designer and is often influenced by the rig
operator. It can be as simple as one value of preload expressed in Kips (or tons) per leg and
that value applies to all operating conditions regardless of conditions. It can also be presented
as a chart. Such charts allow the operator to determine the amount of preload as a function of
water depth, maximum wind, wave height, and air-gap.

For the purpose of confirming the holding capacity of the jacking system, the values of
preload may be used. When deducting the holding loads on the basis of required preload, it is
important to account that preload is calculated with consideration to the weight and buoyancy
of the leg and footing. On most modern jack-up rigs, the spud can is not buoyant, and the
buoyancy of the legs is sometimes neglected

One additional consideration must be given for the difference on the jacking system
configuration for normal operations and storm survival. A frequent difference is that some
jacking systems are supplied with a rack chock. In some designs the rack chock only needs to
be engaged for storm survival and that defines the main difference between simple “holding”
and “storm holding” capacity. Whatever the difference, this has to be consistent with the
instructions in the Operations Manual.

Page 16 of 19 Revised: 1 September 2004

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

Appendix

Terms associated with jack-up Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU)

(From ABS Process Instruction EWZ-001-02-P03-W008 “Jacking Gear Units)

Term Definition
Also called “rack chocks” or “rack fixation system,” a system used
Chock(s)
to prevent relative motion of the leg and rig’s floating hull. Chocks
may be employed either in addition to, or instead of the jacking
system, to hold up the rig or legs.
Also called “jacking pinion,” the pinion-gear that directly acts on
Climbing Pinion
the leg rack. This gear is almost always a seven-tooth gear, as
that is the smallest number of teeth that can be used and still get a
contact ratio that is >1.
The force acting between two (2) gear teeth in contact or between
Contact Force
a climbing pinion and a leg rack tooth.
The average number of teeth in contact for a pair of gears or a
Contact Ratio
pinion and rack. For formulas, refer to the “Handbook of Practical
Gear Design” by Darle W. Dudley.
NOTE: It is considered poor engineering practice to allow part of
the angle of rotation of a gear to have no teeth in contact (i.e.,
having a contact ratio that is <1). This is especially dangerous for
jacking systems, as it will cause impact loading on the teeth due to
their slow speeds and very high load.
Also called a “jacking system,” an electrical, hydraulic, or electro-
Elevating System
hydraulically-driven mechanical system for lifting a drilling unit onto
structural legs that rest on the sea bottom. The elevating system
also lifts the legs of the unit off the sea bottom when the unit is
afloat; thus, allowing the rig to be moved without danger of
grounding the rig on its legs when the unit is in transit between drill
sites.
Today, most elevating systems are multiple-redundant rack and
pinion type systems. The racks are welded to the structural legs
and the climbing pinions are housed in frames that are attached to
structures on the floating unit called “jacking towers.” The racks
on the legs mesh with the jacking pinions. All loads between the
legs and floating unit are transmitted through that path.

Jacking Frame See “Jacking Towers”

Jacking Pinion See “Climbing Pinion”
Jacking System See “Elevating System”
Also called “jacking frame,” a set of structures welded or otherwise
Jacking Towers
fastened to the drill unit around the leg wells from which the drill
unit can safely be suspended using the jacking system and legs.

Page 17 of 19 Revised: 7 May 2007

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

Term Definition
Structures which can be linearly moved in the vertical direction
Leg(s)
relative to the floating unit, which together, can safely support the
weight of the floating unit. On rack and pinion type units, legs are
usually moved and transfer the load between the leg and floating
unit via linear gear racks welded onto the leg. Legs come in two
(2) different basic types: lattice or tubular.
Lattice type legs will commonly have three (3) or four (4) chord
members and will have smaller lacing members connecting the
chord members at regular intervals. Figure 1 shows a MODU
under tow with its lattice legs raised up for tow. Figure 2 shows
another MODU jacked up near a shipyard in a test of its jacking
system. Racks are attached to the chords in one of several ways.
Tubular legs are made of a single tube, racks are welded to the
outside of the tube, and usually the tube has an internal stiffening
structure.

A hole in the MODU structure through which the leg passes. Most
Leg well(s)
jack-up type MODUs use three (3) legs spaced in an equilateral
triangle. This triangle is centered close to the center of mass of
the MODU and is usually designed to be as large as practical.
Figure 2 shows a Lattice Leg MODU jacked up several hundred
feet; the leg wells of that MODU are visible.

The force that the elevating unit produces in the vertical direction
Lift Force
per each jacking pinion. This force is defined by the expression:
Fl = Fc • Cos(PA)
where
Fl is the lift force,
Fc is the contact force, and
PA is the pressure angle.

The linear distance along the pitch line corresponding to one (1)
Pitch
tooth of a gear. In the case of a spur gear, this is expressed as:
pi * pitch diameter
number of teeth
In a rack, this is shown in figure below.

The angle of the gear surface contact at the

Pressure Angle
pitch line with respect to a line drawn
between the centers of the two (2) gears.
In the case of a rack tooth, it is the angle of
the tooth surface with respect to a line
normal to the pitch line of the rack. See
Figure 3.

Page 18 of 19 Revised: 1 September 2004

 Jacking Systems
Function and Requirements

Term Definition

A linear gear structure with linear gear teeth cut into it that a pinion can
Rack
engage and move in a linear manner. Racks are welded to the legs
and are used to lift the floating unit into drilling position.
Almost all rack used in this application is made of high tensile strength
steel plate, and is from 2 to 8 inches thick. The pitch of rack teeth will
vary widely; however, two (2) common pitches seen are 10.00” and
16.755” centerline tooth to centerline tooth. See Figure 3 for a view of
a section of rack.
See “Chock(s)”
Rack Chocks

Rack Fixation See “Chock(s)”

System

Reaction Force The force caused by the effect of the pressure angle of the rack gear
teeth on the climbing pinion and on every pair of meshed gears. The
reaction force is the component of the contact force that pushes the
gears away from each other. That component is equal to the
expression:

Fr=Fc*sin(PA)

where
Fr is the reaction force,
Fc is the contact force, and
PA is the pressure angle.

Page 19 of 19 Revised: 7 May 2007