Numerical simulation of inviscid wave-current interaction with an FPSO

Abstract

This study investigated Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) responses under wave and current interactions. A higher order boundary element method (HOBEM) was adopted to probe the behavior of an FPSO. Forces and moment of an FPSO were studied under wave and current interactions. The simulations of diffracted and radiated waves were performed in a time domain. Time marching schemes were used for this time domain calculation. The predictor-corrector(P-C) method was used. Boundary integral equations were used to solve each problem with Rankine sources and distributed over the entire calculation domain. For the far-field boundary condition, Orlanski’s truncated open boundary condition was used for an open truncated boundary condition to prevent reflected waves. The current effect was considered an explicit term due to being a moving coordinate. Various current heading angles were also studied. Truncated open boundary, maximum likelihood method, proper element size and shape, modulation function, and Chebyshev filtering were studied to avoid diverged solutions. From our findings, higher order elements fitted a complicated model such as an FPSO. We found that this method required considerably fewer elements than the constant panel method in order to obtain reasonable outcomes. Using our developed numerical method, we calculated wave forces and moment, mean drift forces, added mass, and damping coefficients. Conclusively, HOBEM was found to be more effective and more reliable in calculating and predicting wave and current influence on an FPSO. Future studies are needed to develop finer simulation tools for FPSO’s large horizontal behavior.