CFD Study of Air-Gap and Wave Impact Load on Semisubmersible Under Hurricane Conditions

CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations of airgap and wave impact load on a semisubmersible under extreme wave conditions are performed in this study. Unlike the common practice, in which environmental waves are modeled as regular waves, a random wave series based on a JONSWAP spectrum for a 100-year return wave in the Gulf of Mexico is used to interact with a moored semisubmersible to simulate a more realistic environment condition. Wave run-up and impact loads on a moored semisubmersible due to both regular and random waves are computed and compared to investigate the influence of these different extreme waves on motion and impact load.Copyright © 2014 by ASME