Submerged Mooring Grid With Detachable Floating Platform
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mooring systems for floating structures at sea require reconfiguration when vessels are added or removed, leading to instability and obstruction issues due to surface components, and are not adaptable to varying ocean floor shapes and depths.
Innovation Solution
A mooring system featuring an artificial seafloor grid with a mesh-like structure, anchored to the seabed, allowing for secure and flexible mooring of multiple vessels or platforms at various depths without the need for reconfiguration, using a network of parallel grid lines and anchoring lines that form intersections in a horizontal plane, enabling easy attachment and detachment of mooring lines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If surface components remain in the mooring system after vessel removal, then the mooring grid maintains its form, but the surface components form an undesirable obstruction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the surface component function from the mooring grid by introducing a separate floating platform that can be detached. The mooring grid itself remains submerged below the surface, while the floating platform provides the necessary surface presence when vessels are moored and can be removed when not needed, eliminating the obstruction problem while maintaining grid stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is divided into separate functional components: the submerged mooring grid structure and the detachable floating platform. This segmentation allows the grid to maintain its structural form while the platform can be independently added or removed based on operational needs, resolving the contradiction between form stability and surface obstruction.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If surface elements are removed from the mooring system, then surface obstruction is eliminated, but the mooring system changes shape and position making it difficult to restore
Solution Approach 1:
The surface functionality is extracted into a separate floating platform that detaches from the submerged grid. When the platform is removed, only the stable submerged grid remains in its predetermined position and shape, anchored to the seabed, eliminating obstruction while preserving grid integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions between two states: with the floating platform attached for vessel mooring, and without it for unobstructed water surface. The dynamic addition and removal of the platform component allows the system to adapt to different operational requirements while the permanent grid structure maintains its shape and position.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the mooring system is designed to accommodate multiple vessels, then versatility is improved, but the system requires reconfiguration when vessels are added or removed
Solution Approach 1:
The mooring grid is designed with multiple identical attachment points distributed across its structure, allowing any number of vessels to be moored at any combination of points. The standardized grid geometry and uniform attachment mechanisms enable versatile vessel accommodation without requiring system reconfiguration, as the same structural elements serve multiple potential mooring locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The mooring grid is pre-configured with all necessary attachment points and structural elements during installation. This preliminary arrangement of multiple potential mooring locations eliminates the need for reconfiguration when vessels are added or removed, as the infrastructure is already in place to support various vessel combinations.
4Ease of operation
If the mooring system uses elements extending to the sea surface, then vessel connection is enabled, but the system is permanently situated at or near the surface causing obstruction
Solution Approach 1:
The vessel connection function is extracted into a separate floating platform that serves as the interface between vessels and the submerged grid. The grid itself remains below the surface, eliminating obstruction, while the platform provides the necessary surface connection points for vessel attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating platform acts as an intermediary component between the vessels and the submerged mooring grid. It transfers the connection function to the surface level where vessels can easily attach, while the grid remains submerged to avoid obstruction, effectively mediating between the conflicting requirements.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
Mooring system arranged in a body of water for the mooring of multiple surface or semi-submersible vessels or platforms with a artificial seafloor grid designed as a mesh-like structure arranged in a substantially horizontal plane in the body of water. The artificial seafloor grid including means for attachment to said vessel or platform, and is mechanically coupled to the bottom of the sea using anchoring elements.