Centerwell Water Motions and Hydrodynamic Loading Using Viscous Flow Calculations

Most Spar platforms have a wet centerwell which provides a termination point for umbilicals and risers. The column of water in the centerwell is a dynamic system which can be excited by the wave action around the Spar as well as the platform’s own motions. When the exciting frequencies are close to the natural frequency of the water column, the vertical motion of the water in the centerwell can become large in large seastates. This might damage structures within the centerwell. A natural response to this problem is to restrict the fluid flow at the bottom of the centerwell by adding a plated structure to partially close the opening. The remaining open area in the centerwell determines the amount of damping as well as the loads on the plating which can be quite large in heavy seas. The problem addressed in this paper is the determination of the appropriate open area in the centerwell plate that will control the fluid vertical motion without requiring expensive reinforcements to the plating beyond the riser guide structure already present. Traditional design tools based on potential flow models appear to perform poorly for this problem because they do not model the viscous damping in the flow correctly. In this paper we use a Navier-Stokes solver to study the centerwell motions and centerwell plate loads for three centerwell plate geometries. It is found that the Spar motions and the free surface waves need to be included in these simulations. The centerwell water motions and centerwell plate loads are compared with those measured in a scale model experiment. Full-scale calculations are also carried out to determine the corresponding centerwell plate loads and centerwell water motions to assess scale effects. NOMENCLATURE a = centerwell water motion amplitude (m) h = centerwell water motion height (peak to trough) (m) g = acceleration of gravity A= centerwell cross section area (m 2 ) H = incident wave height, regular waves (m) Hs = significant wave height, random waves (m) L = centerwell height z= centerwell depth from mean waterline (m)