Interconnected Ground-Pile Platforms for Wave-Load Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing offshore platforms face challenges with high deadweight and large attack surfaces, making transport and installation difficult, and require significant maintenance, while current foundation structures are prone to high loads from wave systems and have limited rigidity and load-bearing capacity.
Innovation Solution
A platform design featuring interconnected individual base piles connected by a connecting sleeve system with a support element, which distributes load forces through connecting sleeves to individual base piles, allowing for improved rigidity and load-bearing capacity, and includes features like pre-installed damping devices and cable routing systems for easy assembly and maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a jacket (truss) structure is used to connect base piles, then the platform gains structural connection and stability, but the deadweight increases significantly making transport and installation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the traditional jacket (truss) structure from the platform design, retaining only the essential base piles and their direct connections to the operating structure. This extraction of non-essential structural elements significantly reduces deadweight while maintaining the required structural connection and stability through the simplified pile-supported design.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a jacket (truss) structure is used, then structural connection is provided, but the attack surface for wave systems increases leading to high loads
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the jacket (truss) structure, the patent eliminates the large horizontal surfaces that act as sails for wave forces. The simplified design with only vertical base piles and minimal connecting elements dramatically reduces the attack surface area, thereby reducing wave-induced loads while maintaining structural integrity through direct pile-to-platform connections.
3Productivity
If individual base piles are driven into the seabed with connecting sleeves, then installation is quick and maintenance is low, but the rigidity and load-bearing capacity are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple individual base piles into a unified load-bearing system where the piles work together through their interconnected configuration. By merging the load paths and structural functions of multiple piles, the system achieves enhanced rigidity and load-bearing capacity that exceeds the sum of individual pile capabilities, while preserving the quick installation and low maintenance advantages of the pile foundation approach.
4Ease of manufacture
If the platform uses multiple individual base piles, then installation is simplified, but the rigidity and mutual support among piles are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the individual base piles into a coordinated structural system where each pile contributes to the overall rigidity. The piles are positioned and connected to work together as a unified foundation, providing mutual support and enhanced stability. This merging approach maintains assembly simplicity while achieving the required rigidity through cooperative load distribution among the interconnected piles.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a platform founded on several interconnected individual base piles (2), with a connecting sleeve (4) for connection to a respective individual base pile (2) and with an operating structure which has several projections on its underside for fixing in a recess on a support element (3). The support element (3) has several hollow body-shaped base elements which form a ring-shaped, closed, polygonal structure with a central recess. As a result of the weight of the operating structure (5) and external load effects, a force flow occurs from the operating structure (5) into the support element (3) and from there into the individual base piles (2), which, depending on the type of connection, can have a reinforcing effect on the connection between the support element (3) and the individual base piles (2) connected to it.