The tendons are the critical components to keep TLP's on station. The design of the tendons takes into account platform weight, payload, displacement, required pre-tension, water depth, and the metocean data.

The tendons are long seam-welded tubulars joined together by girth welds. Tendon segments are joint together through threaded type intermediate connectors.

This paper examines the key aspects of the design of the TLP tendons to incorporate the effects of axial tension, hydrostatic collapse, bending, VIV, fatigue and fracture mechanics considerations. The interfaces to the TLP and the foundation pile will be detailed. The tension and bending loads of the tendons need to be monitored and the requirements of a robust tension monitoring system will be highlighted.

The key aspect of the fabrication of tendons including the weld procedure qualification, dimensional control/fit-up and NDT will be examined.

The transportation of tendons from the fabrication site to the installation site needs to address the aspects of logistics.

The requirements of the tendon installation will be examined with respect to the Tendon Support Buoys (TSB's). The TSB sizing and the design considerations will be examined for a typical TLP project.

The installation of tendons and the lock-off of TLP and tendons will be examined.

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