Fully coupled multi-hull/mooring/riser/hawser time domain simulation of TLP-TAD system with MR damper

Reducing hawser line tensions and dynamic responses to a certain level is of paramount importance as the hawser lines provide important structural linkage between 2 body TLP-TAD system. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how MR Damper can be utilized to achieve this. Hydrodynamic coefficients and wave forces for two bodies including second-order effects are obtained by 3D diffraction/radiation panel program by potential theory. Then, multi-hull-riser-mooring-hawser fully-coupled time-domain dynamic simulation program is applied to solve the complex two-body system's dynamics with the Magneto-Rheological (MR) Damper modeled on one end of hawser. Since the damping level of MR Damper can be changed by inputting different electric currents, various simulations are conducted for various electric currents. The results show the reductions in maximum hawser tensions with MR Damper even for passive control cases. The results also show that the hawser tensions and MR Damper strokes are affected not only by input electric currents but also by initial mooring design. Further optimization of hawser design with MR Damper can be done by active MR-Damper control with changing electric currents, which is the subject of the next study.