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Quiz I - 2017-Answers

This document contains a 10 question quiz on the design of offshore structures. It includes questions about the differences between main pile and skirt pile jackets, differentiating wind and tidal currents, parameters governing substructure geometry, calculating wind and hydrodynamic forces, reasons for pre-fabrication of jackets, sequence of jacket installation, and challenges in offshore structure design. The document provides detailed answers to each question along with relevant sketches, equations, and explanations.

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441 views5 pages

Quiz I - 2017-Answers

This document contains a 10 question quiz on the design of offshore structures. It includes questions about the differences between main pile and skirt pile jackets, differentiating wind and tidal currents, parameters governing substructure geometry, calculating wind and hydrodynamic forces, reasons for pre-fabrication of jackets, sequence of jacket installation, and challenges in offshore structure design. The document provides detailed answers to each question along with relevant sketches, equations, and explanations.

Uploaded by

subhash
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DEPARTMENT OF OCEAN ENGINEERING, IIT MADRAS

OE6200 – Design of Offshore Structures

Quiz I – Examination
Answer to questions
Total Marks : 25

Date : 5 September 2017 Time : 8.00 – 8:50 AM

1. Explain the Difference between the main and skirt pile jackets with neat sketches.

Main Pile Skirt Pile


Pile driven through the main legs of the jacket with Piles are driven through the skirt leg attached to the
an annular space of 25mm to 38mm jacket at the bottom bay with an annular space of 50
to 75mm
Piles run from top of jacket to bottom of jacket thus Piles are only running at the bottom of the jacket
duplicating the legs through the skirt legs
Waste of material for piles due to longer length Reduced pile length and thus saving in material

Installation of pile from above water condition using Installation is by means of underwater hammer (such
diesel type hammer (diesel hammer can only work in as hydraulic) and requires pile to be pitched in single
above water condition) piece.
Pile design for installation can be optimized by Pile design becomes complex due to single pile
dividing the length in to many pieces. length during installation
More offshore time required for welding pile pieces Less time as no offshore welding is envisaged
Piles have to be supported of the jacket during Pile is placed directly on to the seabed and thus
welding and thus putting the jacket in stability pinned to the soil.
related issues
More time is required for grouting the full length of Less time is required for grouting as the length of the
the jacket – pile interface grout is limited

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2. Differentiate wind driven and tidal driven current with neat sketches.

The wind driven current variation with depth can be expressed as:

y
VW  VoW
h
Where VW is the wind driven current at any height from sea bed, VoW is the wind driven current at the
surface, y is the distance measured in m from seabed and h is the water depth in m.

The tidal driven current variation with depth can be expressed as:
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 y 7
VT  VoT  
h
Where VT is the tidal current at any height from sea bed, VoT is the tidal current at the surface, y is the
distance measure in m from seabed and h is the water depth in m

3. What are major parameters governing the geometry of the substructure.

The major parameters governing the geometry of the substructure are listed below.

 Water depth and environmental conditions


 Installation scheme such as launch, lift of the jacket or/and the method of deck installation either by
integrated float-over or , modular or single lift
 Soil conditions may influence whether it is a main pile or a skirt pile with more piles to each corner
or even affect the decision on whether the template structure will work or a gravity base structure is
required.
 Top side pay load may decide the number of legs
 Seismicity of the location
 Type of facility such as drilling, production or drilling cum production etc. will affect the decision on 4
legged or 8 legged structures is required.
 Availability of installation equipment such as launch barge, lifting crane etc can influence the
decision to adopt whether a lifted jacket or launch jacket.

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4. Draw wind pressure variation on a tubular member for a wind speed of 50m/sec (at 10m above MSL) for
height extending from 10m to 50m and calculate the total force. Use 1/8th Power law for wind speed
variation along height.

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5. Calculate the drag force due to wave and current on a submarine pipeline of diameter 500mm
subjected to a tidal driven current of 0.5m/sec near seabed and the wave induced velocity is
0.6m/sec. The drag coefficient for a submarine pipeline resting on seabed shall be taken as 0.7.
The wave and current approaches normal to the axis of pipeline.

6. Write the major reasons why the jacket shall be pre-fabricated


The reasons that lead to pre-fabrication of offshore structures are manifold and the major ones are listed below.
 In order to match the dimensions of leg spacing of the deck, it is essential to control the quality and
dimensional control of fabrication of substructure. Substructure construction at site may lead to
large deviation in dimensions from the planned; the topside structure will not fit in to the
substructure. Hence a controlled fabrication of leg spacing is very essential for successful installation
of substructure and super structure.
 Construction of offshore structures at the site in open sea requires under water welding which is not
feasible, time consuming if made possible by constructing the whole platform under water tight
positive pressure enclosure and will be prohibitively expensive.
 Construction offshore may lead to additional risks associated with offshore environment due to
prolonged exposure to weather conditions.
 Availability of skilled manpower could be difficult for offshore construction and maintenance of such
large number manpower is expensive.

7. Write down the logical sequence of jacket fabrication to installation.


The major activities involved in the fabrication and installation of offshore structures is listed below.
 Fabrication of most jackets will be carried out in horizontal condition unless it is too small a height.
 Load out either by skidding or by trailer on to a barge
 Transportation of the jacket by means of barges or cargo ships to the location of installation.
 Lift and place the jacket in to water or launch by means of allowing the jacket to slide in to water.
 Free Floatation is a temporary phase at which the jacket achieves it free floatation condition and
this requires sufficient buoyancy from its members or by means of additional buoyancy chambers.
 Upending is a sequence of activities using a crane to lift the jacket and make it vertical together with
flooding the jacket legs or other compartments to achieve stability and positive weight (negative
buoyancy) while placing it on the seabed.

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 Setting on bottom is to leave the jacket without crane assistance for a temporary phase. This is
required as the crane may be used to lift the pile or the hammer.
 Pile driving is followed to secure the jacket on to the seabed
 Levelling is an essential activity to make sure the jacket is perfectly or near vertical.
 Grouting is carried out to fill the annulus space between the jacket and pile.

8. Estimate the deck structure elevation at a location where the HAT is 4m and the storm surge is 2m
and the 100 year storm wave height is 18.3m and the water depth is 30m. Crest height is to taken
as 72% of wave height.

Deck Elevation = HAT + Storm Surge + Wave Crest Elevation + Air Gap
= 4m + 2m + (0.72*18.3m) +1.5m = 20.676m

9. What are the major challenges in design of offshore structures?

Offshore Structures subjected to most onerous and severe loading conditions….


 Storm Wind, Waves and Currents
 Water Depths in excess of 600m for fixed structures
 Water Depths in excess of 3000m for floating structures
 Operating in Temperature far below normal temperature
 Special Materials required resist corrosive environment
 Loads are cyclic and fatigue loading will be important

In addition, large lateral loads caused by wind, wave and current make the design far challenging
than the onshore structures.

10. A well head jacket is to be installed in a water depth of 50m. Draw typical elevation showing the
bracing arrangement and leg batter. Take work point elevation as 9m.

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