The paper is missing the equations, so it is available on OnePetro for no charge.
Storm waves tend to be attenuated by a variety of processes as they propagate across the relatively shallow depths of the Texas and Louisiana Continental Shelves. Present shallow water wave force guidelines contained in API RP 2A were developed as a very simplified, judgment-based interpolation into water depths less than 300 feet. Shallow water design wave force levels adopted by many companies generally reflect the conservative adjustments made after many platform losses and significant damages were incurred during Hurricane Hilda in 1964. Subsequent tests of the new generation of shallow water platforms by other hurricanes indicates acceptable performance of the structures. However, costs associated with these structures, as well as results of some of the more recent studies, indicate that there may have been some degree of over-correction in the process of revising the industry's shallow water criteria after Hurricane Hilda.
The purpose of this study was to develop a rational procedure for establishing environmental design conditions for platforms in relatively shallow water in the Gulf of Mexico. This paper discusses two parts of this study. The first part is that of developing and calibrating a procedure for determine the amount of storm wave height reduction due to dissipation of wave energy through fluid shear stresses acting on the seafloor of the Continental Shelves. The second part is that of developing and justifying a wave force parameterization procedure to quantify wave force levels on typical jacket structures in the Gulf of Mexico.
The development of a rational system for establishing environmental design criteria for platforms in relatively shallow water in the Gulf of Mexico requires an investigation of the phenomenon related to storm wave propagation over Continental Shelves. It is known that storm waves tend to be attenuated by a variety of processes as they are driven across the shallow depth of the Texas and Louisiana Continental Shelves. General guidelines for setting environmental criteria (e.g., API RP 2A) have been developed in the past to provide broad ranges of possible design values. These guidelines, however, have generally neglected detailed considerations of shallow water effects on storm waves.
In late 1981, McMoRan Offshore Exploration Company initiated a study of environmental criteria which could be applied to platforms in relatively shallow depths in the western Gulf of Mexico. This study was organized in two parts. The objective of the first part was to develop and calibrate a procedure for determining the amount of storm wave height reduction due to dissipation of wave energy through fluid shear stresses acting on the seafloor of the continental shelves. The prime consideration was wave attenuation due to the effects of bottom friction, although some attention was given to the effects of refraction, shoaling, energy loss due to flow within the bottom sediments, and other effects.
