ROUTE TO CHAOS OF AN ARTICULATED OFFSHORE LOADING PLATFORM

摘要

Articulated Loading Platforms are compliant structures which undergo excessive displacements due to large hydrodynamic loads produced by wind, waves and currents. Prediction of nonlinear behavior of these complex structures in the nonlinear environment is extremely difficult. The discontinuity in the mooring line stiffness at the equilibrium position due to slackening of the mooring line between tower and tanker introduces nonlinearity in the equation of motion. An attempt to study the effect of the highly nonlinear restoring force and hydrodynamic forces on the system was performed. The time domain response analysis was done on the basis of approximate analytical investigations. The solution of the nonlinear simultaneous equations was performed and the results were interpreted by means of phase plots and poincare mapping. The effect of forcing amplitude on the behavior of the system was studied by varying the frequency ratio. Possible occurrence of sub harmonic and chaotic responses and hence different routes to chaos were also identified. These results can be made use of in the design of mooring lines to avoid structural instabilities in the evolving offshore environment.