Hybrid Model Testing of Deep Water Moored Vessels

With oil and gas fields now being developed in water depths down to 3000 m, floating production systems are the only feasible solution. The deep water mooring systems of floating production vessels exhibit a very complex and sometimes chaotic behaviour, which cannot be fully described by theoretical methods. Therefore, physical model testing is a necessary construction requirement. However, even if extreme scale ratios are used, no existing or planned wave model basin can accommodate a full model of a catenary mooring system at 3000 m water depth. Therefore, a hybrid model testing method is being developed, where the necessary truncations or simplifications of the mooring system are simulated by computer-controlled mechanisms. The project is carried out in Denmark in co-operation with the Danish Hydraulic Institute, and internationally with partners from Brazil, England, Japan, Korea, Norway, Romania and USA, organized through the International Towing Tank Conference, ITTC.