Lecture16:Structures&RiserDesign

Wind Loading on offshore structures

Arun S Chandel
Assistant Professor aschandel@ddn.upes.ac.in 09997200339

This lecture focuses on wind and wave loading

Wind loading

Wave loading

The principal loading mechanisms are:

Wind Loading Wave Loading Current Loading The There e are a e considerable conside able overlaps o e laps in the physics of each mechanism and, where appropriate these will be discussed.

Wind Forces are typically responsible for about 15% of the total environmental loading on an offshore structure These Wind forces are particularly likely to result in high overturning moments as they will be applied near the highest point of a structure/vessel. High wind forces tend to occur at times of high wave forces!

When a steady wind blows over an object, it is exposed to a range of forces The most obvious are lift and drag

Flow over a bluff body is the common analysis in offshore engineering

Lift forces are typically oscillatory Drag forces can be high Mean lift forces are generally small. (The combination of lift and drag in bluff bodies may require empirical treatment)

It is sometimes convenient to express lift and drag forces in non-dimensional terms

This can be done by considering the winds eye view of the object in question

Lift and Drag Coefficients are dimensional parameters

Coefficient of Lift

CL =

L 1 U 2 S 2

L and D are in N in Newton and S is in m2

Coefficient C ffi i of f Drag D

CD =

D 1 U 2 S 2

= Fluid density
(kgm-3)

If CL and CD are known, it is possible to predict drag and lift forces

Drag force

1 2 D = C D U S 2
Lift force

1 2 L = C L U S 2

CD and CL are known to be functions of Geometric shape and Reynolds Number

UL Re =
=
L=
viscosity Characteristic length

Reynolds number is a measure of ratio between viscous and inertial forces

If an impervious object is in the way to moving water, the water paths must deviate to make way:

This requires local acceleration of the fluid and there will be viscous drag between the fluid and the object. These result in inertial forces relating to the local fluid acceleration and viscous viscous forces relating to the stickiness of the liquid.

Figure shows sample l drag d and d lift coefficients for different shapes p