HYDRODYNAMICS OF COMPLIANT MODULAR LARGE FLOATING STRUCTURES: A COMPLEX MULTI-BODY SYSTEM

Abstract

The thesis aims at developing state-of-art experimental and numerical techniques capable of providing a comprehensive understanding of the hydrodynamic properties of novel compliant modular large floating structures and to verify proposed practical technologies for their motion mitigations. A practical framework is developed for the hydrodynamic analysis, comprising three phases of studies to sequentially build up knowledge on the hydrodynamics of a single module, a simplified subsystem of the LFS, and the entire LFS. Each phase covers the design, experiment, and implementation of advanced numerical methods. It is demonstrated by a case study of a floating hydrocarbon storage facility (FHSF). In this thesis, the novel concept of combining the compliant design with modular LFS in coastal waters is developed to a good level with a comprehensive experimental and numerical database constructed. The present work enriches the understanding of the design and hydrodynamics of large complex multibody floating structures.