Analysis of Design Wave Loads on an FPSO Accounting for Abnormal Waves

Abstract

The paper presents an analysis of structural design wave loads on an FPSO. The vertical bending moment at midship induced by rogue waves are compared with rule values. The loads induced by deterministic rogue waves were both measured in a seakeeping tank and calculated by an advanced time domain method. Two procedures are used to calculate the expected extreme vertical bending moment during the operational lifetime of the ship. The first one relies on a standard linear long term prediction method, which results from the summation of short term distribution of maxima weighted by their probability of occurrence. The short term stationary seastates are represented by energy spectra and the ship responses by linear transfer functions. The second one is a generalization of the former and it accounts for the nonlinearity of the vertical bending moment, by using nonlinear transfer functions of the bending moment sagging peaks which depend of the wave height.