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Skop 1988
Skop 1988
Skop 1988
R. A. Skop
Professor,
A State-of-the-Art Review
Division of Applied Marine Physics and Ocean
Engineering, A mooring system is any system of cables and anchors used to restrain the motion
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric of a fixed orfloatingstructure by transmitting the forces on the structure to the
Science, seafloor. Examples of mooring systems range from the simple single-anchor, single-
University of Miami, line system used to restrain meteorological buoys to the complex systems used to
Miami, Fla. 33149 Mem.ASME restrain tension leg platforms and guyed towers for deepwater oil operations. In this
paper, a state-of-the-art review regarding the behavior of cables as mooring system
components, the types and selection of cables, and the various classes of anchors
and their applications is presented.
I Introduction
A mooring system is defined as any system of cables and Under the action of the external load f (per unit of un-
anchors used to restrain the motion of a fixed or floating stressed arc length), equilibrium of the cable segment requires
structure by transmitting the forces on the structure to the
seafloor. Several examples of mooring systems are illustrated d(Tr)/ds + i = 0 (1)
in Fig. 1. The single-point surface moor of Fig. 1(a) is repre- Here, T is the tension in the cable and f is the unit tangent
sentative of standard meteorological mooring systems and is vector to the cable
only loosely restrained from motion. The subsurface mooring
systems of Figs. 1(b) and (c) provide stable, wave-isolated r (2)
installations for vertical and horizontal oceanographic meas-
urements, respectively. Figures l(^) and (e) depict two recent
-m^r
concepts for deepwater oil operations—the tension leg plat- The strain e is determined from the cable constitutive relation
form and the guyed tower, both of which require substantial
restraint from motion.
e = mar o)
In this paper, we discuss the behavior of cables as mooring in which Q and y are constants that depend on the cable
system components, the types and selection of cables, and the material and construction.
various classes of anchors and their applications. The external load f = f„. + f/„ where f„, and {,, are, respec-
tively, the hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads. The hydro-
static load is
II Behavior of Cables as Mooring Components
f„. = -wk (4)
A Equations of Static Equilibrium and the Hydrodynamic where w is the cable weight per unit length in water (positive
Loads. The determination of the static configuration of a
mooring system under steady hydrodynamic loading provides if the cable is heavier than water). The hydrodynamic load is
a large part of the information necessary for successful system (l+e)pd
design when wave action is not a factor. When wave action f/,= aCD\v„\y„+irCr\yt\y, (5)
and, hence, system dynamics enter a design problem, the
static solution is still necessary to provide a starting point for Here, p is the density of the water, d is the diameter of the
dynamic analyses. cable, CD and CT are the normal and tangential drag coeffi-
Figures 2(a) and (b) show, respectively, definition sketches cients for a stationary, bare cable, a is a drag amplification
for a mooring cable and a segment of the cable. With respect factor, and V„ and V, are the components of the ocean current
to the X, Y, Z Cartesian coordinate system (Z increasing V normal and tangential to the cable
upwards), the position vector of a point along the cable is P
= Pxi + Pyj + Pzk where i, j , and k are unit vectors along v„ = v - (v • f )f (6a)
X, Y, and Z. To define the particular point along the cable to
which P refers, the unstressed arc length s is used with s V, = (V • T)T (6b)
increasing from zero at the anchor to L, the total unstressed The drag coefficients CD and CT are presented in Fig. 3
length of cable involved. (from reference [1]) as functions of the normal and tangential
Reynolds numbers, R„ = | V„ | d/v and R,= | V, | d/v, where
Contributed by the OMAE Division for publication in the JOURNAL OF
v is the kinematic viscosity of the water. For most mooring
OFFSHORE MECHANICS AND ARCTIC ENGINEERING. Manuscript received by the system design problems, the tangential component of the
OMAE Division, 1987; revised manuscript received January 28, 1988. hydrodynamic load in equation (5) is much smaller than the
Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering NOVEMBER 1988, Vol. 110/365
Copyright © 1988 by ASME
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(a) (b)
=s
(d) (e)
Fig. 1 Typical examples of mooring systems: (a) single-point surface moor; (b) single-point subsurface moor; (c) multi-point subsurface moor;
(d) tension leg platform; (e) guyed tower
normal load. Suggested design values for the normal and e = (T/QY (8c)
tangential drag coefficients are CD = 1.2, CT = 0.0. and, finally, from equation (2)
The amplification factor a results from flow-induced strum-
ming oscillations of the cable or from the attachment of
strumming suppression devices to the cable [2]. Strumming P(j) = Po + [1 + < ( £ ) ] | ^ ^ (8rf)
oscillations are small amplitude cable vibrations caused by
and perpendicular to the incoming current. They occur in where P0 is the position vector of the anchor. Thus, if f(s) is
two varieties, resonant and nonresonant, as shown in Fig. 4 known, the static configuration of a single-point subsurface
(from reference [3]). Also, as shown, either type gives rise to moor can be determined by numerical quadrature. This result
an amplification of the drag force on the cable. Several devices leads to the self-explanatory iterative procedure illustrated in
exist that reduce or eliminate strumming oscillations over Fig. 6 for the general static solution for a single-point subsur-
certain ranges of current and cable orientation to the current. face moor.
Some are shown in Fig. 5. Recommended values of a are
tabulated in Table 1 for a bare cable and for various suppres- 2 Single-Point Surface Moor. For the single-point sur-
sion devices. In the latter cases, a is due to changes from the face moor shown in Fig. 7, the buoy supporting the moor is
basic bare cable shape. not fully submerged and Rz. is equation (8a) is not immedi-
The decision as to whether or not to employ strumming ately known. Also, since a portion of the cable may lay on
suppression devices depends upon numerous factors. Among the sea floor, the overall suspended cable length is not known.
them are the sensitivity of the mooring application to strum- However, the depth D of the water column is known.
ming and the desired mooring lifetime, as well as handling Let us rewrite equation (8d) as
and economic considerations.
P(*) = PL + J[ [1 + *(£)] | ^ di, (9)
B Static Solutions
where, since it is arbitrary, we take PL — \0,0,D}. (That is,
1 Single-Point Subsurface Moor. In general, the hydro- we let Z = 0 correspond to the sea floor.) We now guess a
dynamic load on the cable depends on the configuration taken trial value for RLZ = RLZ.T, the buoyancy force exerted by the
by the cable and the distribution of the current. Let us assume buoy, and calculate the drag forces RLX and RLY on the buoy.
for the moment, however, that this load is known as a A good starting value for RLZ.T is RLZ.T = wD, which is the
S
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OS
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or TANGENTIAL DR AG i h cf versus R
t 1
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LEGEND m
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4 to
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Zojac 119571.
001 m
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1 I0» t 5 10*
REYNOLDS NUMBER
Fig. 3 Normal drag coefficient CD versus normal Reynolds number R„ and tangential drag coefficient CV versus tangential Reynolds number R, for
cables (Berteaux [1])
EFFECTIVE NORMAL
DRAG COEFFICIENT
Fig. 4 A time history of the effective normal drag coefficient aCD, the rms
TIME (sec) -^^^^T ^3^3XN3
cable vibration amplitude perpendicular to the current, and the current
recorded during a field experiment on a Vi-in. cable stretched horizontally (d) HERRINGBONE RIDGE (e) HELICAL RIDGE
to the current (Griffin, et al. [3]) Fig. 5 Strumming suppression devices
Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering NOVEMBER 1988, Vol. 110/367
Table 1 Drag amplification factors for bare cable and for where KL is the cable spring constant matrix at the structure.
common strumming suppression devices (Every, King, and
Weaver [2]) We find that KL is the inverse of the compliance matrix CL,
Suppression Comments Amplification or
device factor a
Bare cable Horizontal 2.00 KL = CV 1 (14a)
Riser 1.50
Ribbon 4-6 d long 1.67
l-2d wide where the nine elements Ca„ of CL are, from reference [7],
\-2d spacing
Fringe 4-6 d long 1.67
Id spacing C
Hair 6 d long 1.00
Q.5d spacing
Herringbone ridge 0.25a' height 1.50 1-K1-7M*) R (s)R„(s)\-ds (14ft)
3 a
Helical ridge 0.25d" height 1.50 T (s)
STATIC SOLUTION
OBTAINED
i \
YES
i I NO
'
CALCULATE ESTIMATED
ON THIS corJFIGURATION
Fig. 6 Iterative procedure for calculating the equilibrium configuration of a single-point subsurface moor
s=L
z
y 0 5=
x x ..............--r----""-=-=.-!:-_=-.",_,....------
W IW x
Fig. 10 Taut, single-point surface moor
Fig. 8 Analysis of a multi-point SUbsurface moor: (a) two-point moor;
(b) two-point moor with trial reactions applied
x
(al Ibl
Fig. 9 Analysis of a three-point subsurface moor: (a) three-point moor;
(b) three-point moor with trial reactions applied
Here, a and {3 take the values X, Y, and Z; and 00.13 is defined Ie)
by (00.13 = 1, a = (3), (00.13 = 0, a 'I' (3). Fig. 11 ElCamples of regular lay. wire ropes (Wilson (9»: (a) 6 x 7;
As an example, we consider the taut, vertical mooring (b) 6 x 24-7 fiber cores; (c) 6 x 37
shown in Fig. 10. For a buoy with resultant buoyancy Band
a neutrally buoyant cable, we have Rx = 0, R y = 0, R z = B,
T = B and ~ = ~o = (B/Q)". We then find
BID 0 0
~L = 0 BID 0 (15)
o o
where we have used (1 + ~o)L = D with D = the depth of the
mooring. To obtain the equations of motion for the tethered
buoy, we need simply add the restoring force FL = -KLoPL
=
to its untethered equations of motion. For buoy motions in
the horizontal plane, the resonant radial natural frequency WH
is, with the inertialess cable approximation,
B ]1/2
WH = [ D(M+ MH ) (16a)
Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering NOVEMBER 1988, Vol. 110 I G69
,A-
CHARGE
SHACKLE CROWN DRIVER (GUN)
STOCK
REACTION PLATE
FLUKE
FLUKE AND PENDANT
(a)
FLUKES
CONCRETE OR
CAST IRON
BLOCK
^SCAST
w
IRON
SLABS
Id) <c2)
Fig. 13 Typical anchors: ( a ) drag embedment [ 1 ] ; (b) direct embedment [10]; ( d ) deadweight clump
[10]; ( c 2 ) deadweight porcupine [1]
800
600
500
Q-
a.
300 -
< o
Q-
< <
o a. 200
<
Z o
a (5
_i
o O
i I
z _i
100 -,
o z
b!
o 80 -,
o b!
cc
I o
i 60
50
40
30
6 7 8 910 20 6 7 8 9 10 20
ANCHOR AIR WEIGHT (KIPS) ANCHOR AIR WEIGHT (KIPS)
(a) (b)
NOTE: IF ANCHORS ARE USED
IN STIFF CLAY
REDUCE HOLDING
CAPACITY BY 25%
Fig. 14 Holding capacity of drag embedment anchors (Taylor and Valent [11]): (a) in sand or gravel and stiff clay (note 25 percent reduction); (6) in
mud or soft clay
Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering NOVEMBER 1988, Vol. 110 / 371