Time domain simulation of a dynamic positioning deepwater semisubmersible drilling platform

DPS (dynamic positioning system) has been widely used in floating structures, especially in deepwater area. Time domain simulation of platforms with dynamic positioning system has great significance to DP capability and riser system. Motion response of a deepwater semi-submersible platform with DPS on time domain was presented in this paper. PID (proportional, integral, derivative) controller and thruster allocation method were applied in numerical simulations of DPS. Wind, current and wave environmental loads were analyzed and limited angular speed was considered as well. Thruster failure analyses were covered and discussed also. Experiments of DPS in deepwater basin of Harbin Engineering University (HEU) were presented and compared with numerical study.