Tender-Assisted Drilling (TAD) Semisubmersible closely moored with a Tension Leg Platform (TLP) for deepwater field development is becoming a popular scenario for benign environmental regions, such as Offshore Indonesia/Malaysia and Offshore Africa. To ensure a reliable and safe development and operation, it is crucial to thoroughly explore hydrodynamic response characteristics of TLP and TAD moored in close proximity in various environmental conditions. Due to drilling, lifting and transfer operation requirements, TAD may require to longitudinally and transversely offset relative to TLP. This paper presents a study on hydrodynamic interactions of TLP and TAD by varying separating distances in longitudinal and transverse directions to cover possible operational positions. Our results show that although hydrodynamic coupling exists between the floaters for the scenarios considered, the magnitudes are low and of modest practical significance. Our effort as presented in this paper is part of a broader scope of studies designed to address hydrodynamic and mechanical coupling between TLP and TAD.

Keywords:
variation, floater, proceedings, longitudinal, hydrodynamic interaction, transverse separation distance, texas texas section, tlp, naval architect, relative motion
Subjects:
Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers, Offshore Facilities and Subsea Systems, Risers
This content is only available via PDF.
2014. The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.