Floating Platform Anchoring Arms to Reduce Cable Fatigue
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing anchoring systems for offshore floating platforms, such as TLP platforms and those with counterweights and pulleys, face issues like cable breakage due to high tension, bending fatigue, and uncontrolled movements due to tidal variations, which affect stability and safety.
Innovation Solution
An anchoring system comprising a floating platform with first and second anchoring lines, swinging arms connected via articulated joints, and a central float, allowing synchronized movement to minimize pitch and eliminate the need for pulleys, thus reducing cable stress and wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If TLP platforms use high tension cables to maintain vertical position and avoid pitch/roll movements, then platform stability is improved, but the cables experience high stress and reduced extensibility, increasing the risk of breakage and requiring higher section cables or more anchoring lines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by allowing the platform to move vertically and laterally in response to tidal variations and wave actions, rather than maintaining a fixed vertical position. This dynamic approach reduces the tension stress on anchoring cables while maintaining platform stability through controlled movement, eliminating the need for high-section cables or increased number of anchoring lines.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the anchoring system by transitioning from a static tension-leg configuration to a dynamic system where cable tension, platform position, and anchoring geometry are allowed to vary within controlled ranges. This parameter flexibility reduces peak stresses on cables while maintaining adequate stability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If platforms use counterweight and pulley systems to allow vertical and lateral displacement, then adaptability to tides and waves is improved, but the anchoring cables experience bending fatigue over time, increasing the risk of breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the pulley system from the anchoring mechanism. By directly connecting anchoring cables to the platform without intermediate pulleys, the design removes the source of bending fatigue while preserving the ability of the platform to displace vertically and laterally in response to environmental conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains adaptability to tidal and wave conditions through direct, flexible cable connections that allow natural platform movement without the mechanical constraints and fatigue-inducing bending of pulley-based systems.
3Stability of the object's composition
If anchoring lines have reduced or no extensibility to maintain tension, then platform position control is improved, but the tension in anchoring lines increases considerably during tide rise, causing high risk of breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the tension parameter in anchoring lines by allowing controlled changes in cable geometry and platform position. Instead of maintaining constant high tension through inextensible cables, the system allows tension to vary dynamically with tidal levels and platform movement, reducing peak stresses while maintaining position control within acceptable ranges.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system reduces cable section requirements, minimizes platform pitch, and eliminates bending fatigue, enhancing stability and safety by synchronizing anchoring line movements with the central float's movement, reducing mechanical wear and stress on cables.
Implementation Method 1
a central float, where a plurality of second anchoring lines are joined to the central float
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of swinging arms, each swinging arm being joined by an articulated joint to an anchoring block
Data Source
AI summary
Anchoring system having a floating platform from which first anchoring lines emerge, an anchoring block with at least three non-aligned anchoring points, a central float swinging arms being joined by a joint to the block, the joint located in an intermediate area so that each arm has an internal section and an external section, the internal section located between the intermediate area and an inner free end, and the outer section located between the intermediate area and an outer free end, the inner end closer to the central float than the outer end, so that first anchoring lines leaving the floating platform are joined to the outer free ends. The system has second anchoring lines between the central float and the inner end portions containing the inner free ends of the inner sections of the arms. Also a method of install and uninstalling such a system.