This keynote paper describes advances in offshore anchoring technology, made possible through research undertaken over the last five years at the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems at the University of Western Australia. The paper focuses on the behaviour and performance of statically and dynamically installed anchors for floating oil and gas facilities and floating renewable energy facilities, addressing issues associated with anchor installation and anchor capacity under monotonic, sustained and cyclic loading. The role of physical modelling techniques using centrifuge technology, numerical modelling using large deformation analysis and analytical modelling based on plasticity analysis in advancing anchor technology are presented. This modelling has led to tools that can assist anchor design to reduce uncertainty and optimise performance.
The role of offshore anchors is to keep a floating facility on station. These facilities include oil and gas structures in deep water (e.g. floating production, storage and offloading platforms), and renewable structures in shallow water (e.g. wave energy converters). They can be installed in either clayey or sandy soils and can be embedded to depths of 2 to 25 m in the seabed.
