A Hydrodynamic Analysis of Motion Coupling Effect of Floating Storage Tank Supported by Marine Fenders

Abstract

This study concerns a new concept of floating oil storage facility, to be deployed in coastal waters, in which separate oil storage tanks float in an array, separated by a mooring fender system. In this paper, hydrodynamic properties of a single module are investigated numerically. The effects of different mooring fender parameters including fender stiffness and fender position on the coupled motions are studied. Design criteria and a design approach for the marine fender selection are proposed. Next, time-domain simulations under random waves are performed. Finite water depth effects are taken into consideration. Then a brief parametric study on sloshing phenomenon in fender-supported tanks is conducted. Results show that a carefully designed marine fender will help reduce the roll and pitch motions of the storage tank, and thus function as a stabilizer. This analysis is the basis of a global hydrodynamic response analysis for multiple tanks, including the effects of multibody hydrodynamic interactions between tanks in the future.