Influences of mass distribution on seakeeping performances of an offshore barge

Résumé

The information presented in this paper is based on the results obtained as an extension of a previous study when only a single loading case was taken into consideration in order to evaluate the behaviour and the hydrodynamic induced forces and moments due to waves for a pipe layer barge. The aim of the present paper is to compare and estimate the influence of the two additional operational loading cases. The importance of the evaluations of the environmental forces due to waves is mandatory because, on one hand, the designer has to be able to decide the value of the design wave on a given location and, on the other hand, to estimate the influences of the loading cases which clearly differ from the classical ones, specific to merchant ships, due to different specific restrictions as well as typical operations in offshore industry. It has to be underlined that both the motions and the structural responses are responsible in order to achieve good operational indexes which are of paramount importance during the lifetime of an offshore structure. In order to provide structural safety and comfort on board, an extensive evaluation has to be performed based on the identification of worst case scenarios and to find  appropriate solutions having as target to avoid significant operational losses and physical damages.