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Technology
Assessment & Research (TA&R) Program
| Project Number |
441 |
| Date of Summary |
January 4, 2006 |
| Subject |
Mitigating Greenwater Damage
Through Design |
| Performing Activity |
Texas A&M University, Offshore Technology
Research Center |
| Principal Investigator |
Dr. Kuang-An Chang, Dr. Hamn-Ching Chen, Dr.
Richard Mercier |
| Contracting Agency |
Minerals Management Service |
| Estimated Completion |
December 2005 |
| Description |
Greenwater damage to
floating structures results from high pressures and loads that occur when
wave crests inundate the structure far above the waterline in areas not
designed to withstand such pressures. Greenwater damage is the result of
unique combinations of vessel motions and incident wave conditions; roll,
pitch and yaw of a turret-moored FPSO in hurricane seas. The interactions of
the waves and floating structures are being studied both analytically and
experimentally to better understand the complex flows around and over a
structure, and the resulting impact loads and pressures than can cause the
type of damage. In addition to the FPSO’s, the project also included
other structure geometries such as Spars or TLP’s. |
| Progress |
A fixed 2D rectangular structure
based on the dimensions of a typical TLP (1:168 scaled down) was tested in
the laboratory flume using extreme waves breaking and impinging on the
structure with greenwater. Velocity fields in the vicinity of the structure,
including greenwater, were measured over the entire impinging process using
the traditional particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique and a newly
developed PIV method that directly tracks the air bubbles.
Completed |
| Report |
|
AA (16
pages) |
Mitigating
Greenwater Damage Through Design |
|
AB (167
pages) |
Final Report |
|
AC (9
pages) |
Appendix of Final
Report |
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