The articulated connector is suitable for serially connected multi-module platform, which can reduce the section load by releasing relative pitch. The connector is an important part of the multi-module platform system, and its load response will directly affect the safety of the platform. In this paper, a three-module serially connected platform is taken as the research object, the rigid body calculation model and the elastic calculation model are used to analyze the load of the connector. The rigid body assumption ignores the stiffness of the connector and the platform. After calculating the load on the connection section, load distribution is performed in combination with the layout of the connector. Then the force of each single connector is obtained. The elastic model assumption considers the elastic deformation of the platform and the connector. After the complete structure model of the platform is established, the stiffness characteristics of each connector are simulated through the elastic connection elements. After obtaining the load RAO of each connector by the hydroelastic analysis method, the extreme load of each connector is obtained through short-term prediction. In this paper, after calculating the extreme load of the connector under the design conditions, the results obtained by the two methods are compared, and the reasons for the difference between them are analyzed. Based on these results, this article also discusses the applicability of the two methods at various stages of connector design.
Very large floating structures are usually divided into several basic modules, which are combined by connectors to reduce the load of the structure. It was noted (Miao et al., 2018; Ding et al., 2020) that the articulated connector is a suitable type for serially connected multi-module platform, which can reduce the section load by releasing the relative pitch. As an important part of the multi-module platform system, the load response of the connector directly affects the safety of the platform.
