Ttitle:

ROLL MORIONS OF FPSOs

Number:
Area: HYDRODYNAMICS
Authors: Daniel Cueva / Fernando Faria
PDF processed with CutePDF evaluation edition www.CutePDF.com

1 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs


Summary
1. BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................... 3
2. MOTION CAUSES ....................................................................................................................... 4
2.1. ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS ................................................................................................ 4
2.2. LOADING ASPECTS ............................................................................................................. 5
3. MOTION CONSEQUENCES .......................................................................................................... 7
3.1. COMFORT ON BOARD ........................................................................................................ 7
3.2. EFFECTS ON TOPSIDE ......................................................................................................... 7
3.3. GREEN WATER ................................................................................................................... 8
3.4. EFFECTS ON RISERS ............................................................................................................ 8
4. ROLL HYDRODYNAMICS ........................................................................................................... 10
5. DAMPING PROBLEM ................................................................................................................ 11
5.1. FREE OSCILLATION TESTS ................................................................................................. 12
5.2. Numerical Simulations of real FPSOs ................................................................................ 13
6. SECOND ORDER EFFECTS ......................................................................................................... 15
7. SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS ........................................................................................................... 18
7.1. ANTI-ROLL TANKS ............................................................................................................. 18
7.2. BILGE KEELS ..................................................................................................................... 20
8. REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 23
9. APPENDIX I - DEFINITIONS OF VARIABLES USED IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE STABILIZERS ............ 25





2 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs




Table 1 - Wave conditions ................................................................................................................. 5
Table 2 - Confort criteria .................................................................................................................... 7
Table 3 - FPSO topside accelerations ................................................................................................. 8
Table 4 - Enlarged bilge keel effectiveness ....................................................................................... 21
Table 5 - Natural period variation due to enlarged bilge keel ........................................................... 21



Figure 1 Bleo Holm FPSO (Cortesy of Bluewater) ............................................................................. 3
Figure 2 Munin FPSO (Courtesy of StatoilHydro) ............................................................................. 3
Figure 3 - 2007 FPSO survey............................................................................................................... 3
Figure 4 - Spread Mooring System (DICAS) ......................................................................................... 4
Figure 5 - Single Point Mooring (Picture courtesy of Bluewater)......................................................... 5
Figure 6 - Roll of a FPSO ..................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 7 Green water effects ........................................................................................................... 8
Figure 8 - Weld-on Threaded Connector (Courtesy of RTI Energy System) and Thread and Couple
Connector (Courtesy of Vallourec and Mannesman), for improved strength and fatigue performance
.......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 9 - Hybrid Riser Tower Concept (Courtesy of Stolt Offshore) ................................................... 9
Figure 11 - Nonlinear roll ................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 10 - Decay test example ........................................................................................................ 12
Figure 12 - Model test and numerical test comparison .................................................................... 14
Figure 13 - Wave spectrum .............................................................................................................. 17
Figure 14 - Roll response spectrum .................................................................................................. 17
Figure 15 - Anti-roll tank .................................................................................................................. 18
Figure 16 - Comparison of the computed roll response of a typical ship with and without a good
passive roll tank............................................................................................................................... 19
Figure 17 - Comparison of passive and controlled-passive roll stabilizing tanks ................................ 19
Figure 18 - Bilge keel arrangement .................................................................................................. 20
Figure 19 - Bilge keel effectiveness .................................................................................................. 20



3 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
1. BACKGROUND
In the last decades, several new technologies were developed in order to fulfill the increasing
demand for deep-water offshore production units. As one of the most successful, the FPSOs
(Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading) were able to mix all the experience in ship operation
with a reliable vessel for oil production.

Figure 1 Bleo Holm FPSO (Cortesy of Bluewater) Figure 2 Munin FPSO (Courtesy of StatoilHydro)

The storage capacity and the safety of a big water plane area hull changed the scenario in the
offshore industry, and the concept becomes the standard solution for several applications all over
the world. According to a 2007 survey, there are 113 FPSOs currently in operation and 33 in
construction phase (ref. [26]).

Figure 3 - 2007 FPSO survey
However, the direct application of the technology also introduced new problems. Since most of the
current fleet of FPSOs are composed by converted units, several aspects that should be considered
in an offshore design are left behind, for instance motions in waves.
Excessive roll motions and accelerations are one of the key aspects in FPSO analysis, since they are
directly linked with downtime. The excessive motions of a FPSO are caused not only by severe
environmental conditions, but also due to mild combinations, that may lead the unit to unfavorable
beam seas conditions, in both SMS (Spread Mooring System) and SPM (Single Point Mooring).

4 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
2. MOTION CAUSES
2.1. ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
The SMS system is defined by the presence of several mooring lines, which does not allow the unit
to weathervane. To weathervane means that the ship can rotate in the horizontal plane (yaw) into
the direction where environmental loading due to wind, waves and current are minimal.

Figure 4 - Spread Mooring System (DICAS)
As a result, SMS are usually applied where the weather conditions are moderate and the current
direction is relatively fixed. However, since the heading is almost permanent, the FPSO will not
encounter head waves all times, and deviations from 15 to 30 degrees are expected. Another
important issue is that, in most cases, the main driver to the heading definition is the mooring loads.
It means that the fixed heading of a SMS system will be specified by the optimum arrangement of
the lines, which is not necessarily the optimum for motion characteristics.
Besides that, the swell conditions are also present, and may result in long period waves hitting the
side of the unit.
In the SPM system a turret is usually used, and the system is able to weathervane about the mooring
point. As a consequence, the unit will be able to rotate and the final equilibrium position will result
in a minimum load in the mooring system, when exposed to waves, wind and current.

5 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs

Figure 5 - Single Point Mooring (Picture courtesy of Bluewater)
However, even in SPM system critical sea conditions may appear, resulting in large roll motion
amplitudes. In Brazil, for example, simultaneous environmental conditions result in a difference of
wind and wave incidences up to 90 degrees, such as Wind from East and Swell from South. When
the wind speed is high enough to induce the units heading, beam sea conditions will be faced by the
vessel.
Table 1 shows a summary of the sea states for Campos Basin for which the wind speeds were above
5 m/s in order to simulate the conditions for which the vessels heading starts to be affected by the
wind. Beam sea states are defined as conditions for which the angle between wind and wave is in
the vicinity of 90 degress.
Table 1 - Wave conditions
Return Period Peak Period (s) Sig. Wave Height (m)
1 month ~10.9 3.0 3.5
1 year ~13.0 4.5 5.0
10 years ~13.6 5.5 6.0
100 years ~14.2 6.0 6.5

2.2. LOADING ASPECTS
As a result of the storage capacity, the different loading conditions of a FPSO results in large
variations of draft and natural period. Conventional FPSOs may vary the draft from 8m to 27m, and
the natural roll period from 10s to 15s.
Figure 6 presents the roll RAO curves for different loading conditions of a conventional FPSO.

6 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs

Figure 6 - Roll of a FPSO
Comparing the values presented above and the metocean information from Table 1, it is possible to
conclude that resonance will be induced, and high amplitudes will be achieved, especially for ballast
condition. Recent full scale monitoring showed that roll motion in FPSOs may achieve 15 degrees
(single-amplitude) in certain conditions (ref. [11]).
Loading and offloading operations are also critical for roll motions, since the ships cargo sequence
has direct influence on the metacentric height and the roll restoring moment. It is always desirable
to include intermediate loading and offloading situations on the motions analysis, in order to verify
possible problems.



7 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
3. MOTION CONSEQUENCES
The presence of excessive roll amplitudes is responsible for several aspects of the FPSO design and
operationability.
3.1. COMFORT ON BOARD
First point that should be evaluated is the crew performance due to comfort when subjected to low-
frequency vibrations, generally imposed by vessel motions. This oscillation may result in motion
sickness, body instability, fatigue, discomfort and increased health risk. A cumulative measure of
exposure to low-frequency oscillation may be used to provide an indication of the probable
incidence of motion sickness. ABS (ref. [1]) defines the vertical Motion Sickness Dose Value MSDV
Z
,
in m/s
1.5
, by the following expression:

0

Where a
zw
(t) is the z-axis acceleration as a function of time in meters-per-second squared (m/s
2
),
weighted by the Wf frequency weighting as defined in BS 6841:1987 and ISO
8041:1990/Amd.1:1999, and T is the duration of the motion in seconds.
The measurements must be taken in 0.1 to 0.5Hz frequency range (2.0 to 10.0s period), and the
following criteria should apply.
Table 2 - Confort criteria



3.2. EFFECTS ON TOPSIDE
The reduction of roll amplitudes is important not only for improving the crew performance, but also
for the performance of installed equipments. Separation equipments, such as production separators,
glycol contractors and deaerator towers, are sensitive to motions. For other equipments such as
rotating equipment, heat exchangers and vessels (without separation function) motions and
accelerations have to be addressed but do not present large problems in the design. Motions have
adverse effects on the separatism performance, especially roll and pitch (ref. [15]). The accelerations
induce secondary flows in the liquid which create waves at the interfaces and dispersion of liquid
phases at the oil/water interface, and extreme motions can cause the shutdown of the production
plant. For optimum separation efficiency the separators are usually located approximately amidships
where accelerations due to pitch are lowest. However, there is no possible position that will reduce
roll induced accelerations.

8 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
Table 3 shows the expected accelerations for a process module in a converted FPSOs due to roll
motions in extreme sea states (100 years return period; Campos Basin), based on BV formulations
(ref. [25]).
Table 3 - FPSO topside accelerations
Longitudinal Transversal Vertical
(m/s
2
) (g) (m/s
2
) (g) (m/s
2
) (g)
Centenary Sea State 0.985 0.100 4.457 0.457 -12.362 -1.260

3.3. GREEN WATER
Another issue that must be considered is the green water effect from the side of the FPSO. As
previously explained, the non-collinear directions of wind, current and waves may induce to green
water, with possible impacts of structure and equipment damage, as well as safety of the crew,
especially amidships and further aft. Additional information may be found in the Green water from
the side of FPSOs (ref. [3]).

Figure 7 Green water effects
3.4. EFFECTS ON RISERS
The FPSOs are less riser friendly units compared to other types of offshore structures, like semi-
submersibles, SPARs, etc. Due to the composition of heave, roll and pitch, usually with natural
periods close to the wave peak period, the vertical motions at risers connections are relatively large.
In SPM system, the riser connections are usually located in the fore position, and the pitch motion
becomes the most important issue. In SMS systems, however, the risers are located at the FPSOs
side, and the roll will induce high vertical motions at the connectors.
Due to the high motions, free hanged flexible risers are the available solution for FPSOs, especially
under harsh environmental conditions, but limitations in diameter, maximum water depth and high
costs may be faced.
Another option is the application of SCRs (Steel Centenary Risers), but the FPSO motions make the
riser design a challenging task. The most critical areas of SCRs directly connected to a FPSO through
flexible joints or stress joints are the strength of the hangoff and the sagbend region, as well as the
fatigue damage of the hangoff region and the touchdown region.

9 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
Some alternatives may be considered in order to allow the use of SCRs in FPSO, such as the
improvement of SCR fatigue and strength performance, the reduction of the FPSO motion or the
decoupling of riser and vessel motion, through the use of submerged intermediate structures (riser
towers, submerged buoys, etc) (ref. [18]).

Figure 8 - Weld-on Threaded Connector (Courtesy of
RTI Energy System) and Thread and Couple
Connector (Courtesy of Vallourec and Mannesman),
for improved strength and fatigue performance
Figure 9 - Hybrid Riser Tower Concept (Courtesy of Stolt
Offshore)








10 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
4. ROLL HYDRODYNAMICS
First order motions of ships can be obtained by a simple dynamic equation that computes values of
inertia, damping, wave and restoring forces.
A typical roll motion with single degree of freedom can be described as (ref. [36]):
(1)
Where is the roll angle,

and

are the first and second differentiations with respect to time, i.e.,
angular velocity and angular acceleration. is the mass moment of inertia in roll (considering its
additional part),

is the nonlinear damping moment, is the nonlinear restoring moment, and

M(t) is the exciting moment by waves.
Various expressions of damping and restoring terms were used to simulate the nonlinear
characteristics of roll motion. The most commonly used representations are:
(2)
where B
L
and B
N
are the linear and nonlinear damping coefficients, respectively, and C
1
and C
3
are
the linear and third-order restoring moment coefficients.
The usual procedure for calculation of the ship motions is the use of the so-called diffraction-
radiation software based on the potential flow theory. The damping calculated by this kind of codes
is linear and related to the wave making.
For linear assumption of the phenomena the expression (2) reduces to:
(3)


I B C M t
B B
L
B
N
C C
1
C
3
3
B B
L
C C
1

11 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
5. DAMPING PROBLEM
Linear damping coefficient, or potential damping coefficient, is the one obtained from potential flow
theory and depends on the hull geometry only. Other types of damping that are not evaluated by
this theory must be approximated or obtained from model tests.
These damping sources are identified as a dissipation of energy due to the drag, friction, flow
separation and some other effects.
Its influence is usually obtained from two common procedures (ref. 28):
Free oscillation model tests;
Semi empirical methods;

Free oscillation model tests, or decay tests, provides the system natural period and the damping of
the unit. It is possible to say that these tests are the most reliable tool for predicting roll damping of
a unit. Several cares must be taken in order to correct evaluate damping from the time series
obtained from these model testing, as explained below.
Semi-empirical methods are based on an extensive series of model tests which results are fitted to
an empirical formula obtained after combining the model test results with some theoretical
considerations. The Ikeda-Himeno is the most popular method for evaluation of roll damping for
ship like bodies. This method decomposes the total roll damping in several components that
represent different physical phenomena occurring on the hull. The numerical implementation of this
method can be obtained from [13].
Unfortunately it is known that the roll motion is nonlinear. That means that the methods explained
above do not evaluate precisely the correct damping of the unit and other tests are often done in
order to enclose this wave amplitude influence. Regular wave tests, decay tests in waves or forced
roll motions tests in waves are some of the ones that comprises this behavior.
An example of nonlinear FPSO roll damping, due to different wave amplitudes, is shown below. The
hull was tested under regular and irregular waves, and its results were then compared to a
numerical calculation by a diffraction-radiation software.

Figure 10 - Nonlinear roll


12 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
Ones can see that different external values of damping were included in the numerical calculations
in order to correctly adjust the nonlinear damping that showed up for the several waves tested over
the body.
5.1. FREE OSCILLATION TESTS
The principles of the method are quite well known. An initial displacement in roll is given to the body
and the time history of the motion is registered.


Figure 11 - Decay test example
The following form of the motion equation is assumed:
(4)
Expression (4) can be re-written as:
(5)
where p
1
= B
1
/I, p
2
= B
2
/I and c = C/I.
i. Linear Damping
The assumption of linear damping considers only the linear damping coefficient. For this reason,
equation (5) is reduced to:
(6)
By assuming a solution of the form and knowing that:
(7)
I B C 0
p
1
p
2
c 0
p
1
c 0
e
st
C
c
2 I
n
C
C
c

13 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
where
w
n
is the frequency natural period of motion.
It's possible to obtain the general solution to equation (6):
(8)
in which x is the magnitude of oscillation at t=0 and is the phase angle.
If two consecutive absolute values are given by and , then the logarithmic decrement
is defined as:
(9)
which gives:
(10)
ii. Nonlinear Damping
Since the equation (5) is nonlinear, it is difficult to solve it in a close form. Assuming the damping to
be constant with respect to the amplitude of oscillation, the linear and quadratic damping can be
determined from the relation:
(11)
where T
m
is twice the period between and .
Plotting the points obtained and fitting a straight line to them, the values of p
1
and p
2
are found.

5.2. Numerical Simulations of real FPSOs
The importance of a correct adjust on the roll damping of a FPSO resides on the fact that most
numerical software are based on diffraction-radiation method and its calculus are rely on the
potential flow theory, which means that these do not evaluate nonlinear roll damping of a body.
Once the roll damping of a hull is known, one could simulate numerically the FPSOs behavior under
several mooring and environmental conditions.
Unfortunately, this kind of concordance cannot be achieved in a great number of situations. The
reason for this consists on the extreme difficulty for numerical software to predict some other
behaviors that often occur on a real FPSO, such as:
Green water effects.
Slamming effects.
Breaking waves effects.

x x
0
exp
n
sin 1
2
n
t
x
k
x
k 1
ln x
k
ln x
k 1
2 2
2
T
m
ln
x
k 1
x
k 1
p
1
16
3
x
k
T
m
p
2
x
k
x
k 1

14 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
It is shown below two examples of simulations where good and bad results were obtained. The cases
were simulated for the same body with different irregular wave conditions. Each condition had its
damping adjusted properly.

Figure 12 - Model test and numerical test comparison
As displayed, the first numerical simulation adjusted well its numerical time series to a time series
obtained from the same wave on an ocean basin. The second time series, however, could not
achieve the same results.



15 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
6. SECOND ORDER EFFECTS
As we have already discussed, the presence of large roll motions is induced by the resonance
between the natural period and the sea state peak period. For the new built units, the optimization
of the hull geometry may result in better motion response, and in most cases the natural roll period
is shifted for high periods, outside the high linear wave energy range, usually over 20s.
Although several experiments were carried out around the world in order to confirm this strategy,
FPSOs with roll resonant periods larger than the maximum wave period demonstrated the presence
of roll response in their own wave periods, what is attributed to nonlinear mechanism (ref. [33]).
The second-order wave theory is considered when wave loads occurring at the difference of wave
frequencies must be evaluated, resulting in low-frequency wave loads, that are considered to be the
main source of large period roll motion.
Much work has been done in order to predict the horizontal components of second-order loads,
especially due to the influence in the mooring systems. Two main theories were developed: far field
formulation, based on the momentum principle, and near field formulation, based on the direct
integration of second-order pressure on the hull surface. However, just a few attempts were
developed in order to evaluate the vertical components of second-order loads.
The general formulation of second-order wave loads can be obtained by direct integration of the
second-order pressure on the hull surface of the body's mean position, the first-order pressure in
the intermittent zone around the waterline and the variation of the first-order loads due to the first-
order motions.
The second-order wave load is composed of one part dependent on the quadratic product of the
first-order quantities and another part contributed by the second-order potentials.
The first part forces can be decomposed in two other groups: one being the second-order variation
of the hydrostatic loads due to the first-order motions, dependent only on the hull geometry and
first-order motions; and the other, as given in Ogilvie (1983), being defined as
(12)

in which all involved quantities in the integrand are of the first order as for the free-surface
elevation, for the velocity potential, X T + R r
1
,
2
,
3
for the displacement due to the
translation T
1
,
2
,
3
and rotation R
1
,
2
,
3
, and r x x
0
, y y
0
, z z
0
for the
position vector with respect to the reference point x
0
, y
0
, z
0
of rotation. In (12), stands for the

16 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
intersection (waterline) of the hull H at its mean position with the mean free surface Fz = 0. The
normal vector n n
1
, n
2
, n
3
is positively oriented inwards to the fluid.
Another formulation based on the momentum theorem has been developed by Maruo (1960) and
extended to the moment around the vertical axis by Newman (1967). This formulation involving first
order wave field in the far field is often called far field formulation and it's preferred in practice as it
provides good convergence and stability.
The momentum formulation, equivalent to one given in Newman (1967), is given as:
(13)
written on a surface S

located at infinity and its upside boundary

touching vertically the mean

free surface.
Although both formulations presented above should give equivalent results, the near-field
formulation suffers from poor numerical convergence, as the singularities are present in the velocity
field around the hull area with a sharp variation of geometry like corners. On the other hand, the far-
field formulation is less sensitive to the hull mesh discretization and is numerically robust. However,
the far-field formulation only gives the three horizontal components of loads (ref. [33]).
Under the practical point of view, we may find roll second-order motion amplitudes higher than
first-order, especially when working in high natural period vessels. It is important to highlight that, in
many cases, all numerical analysis are carried out considering only first-order response and
horizontal second-order loads (for mooring and riser evaluation). As a result, the second-order
motions are only going to be verified during model tests, when the flexibility for major modifications
is smaller.
As an example, Figure 14 presents the experimental spectral roll response for a FPSO design with
high natural period. Ones can see that the units response is located far away from the wave peak
period spectrum, which is attributed to nonlinear mechanisms. However, no linear response (first
order) is observed (ref. [12]).

17 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs

Figure 13 - Wave spectrum

Figure 14 - Roll response spectrum



18 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
7. SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS
The non-dimensional roll RAO for a bare hull can be 10 times greater than the wave slope. For that
reason, a control of this roll motions is sometimes needed or desirable. The almost total lack of
inherent roll damping means that small additions to this damping can produce large reductions in
the response.
Since the most severe roll motions occur at resonance, the best way of reducing it is to increase
damping. The most common means of doing so is the installation of bilge keels or, if more control is
desired, the use of special anti-rolling devices.

7.1. ANTI-ROLL TANKS
The application of anti-roll tanks has been considered by a few FPSO projects.
The most common anti-rolling devices are the free surface tank, U-tube tank and external tank,
being the U-tube tank used in most vessels. The subsequent text will discuss the U-tube tank. More
information about these devices can be obtained in ref. [17].
This tank can be passive, controlled-passive or active. Passive ones do not require power or a control
system to operate. Controlled-passive tanks contains a servo-controlled valve system in the air duct
of the system. Active ones generally waste significant power for operating the system.
The liquid inside passive tanks, that are partly filled, flows from tank to tank in response of the roll
motion. The phasing of the roll moments acting on the ship as the result of the fluid motion are such
that they reduce the roll motion close to the natural period of the unit. This device cannot eliminate
the roll motion entirely, since it does not move until the ship moves.
The equations of motion are too complex to derive here, but details can be found in Vast, et al
(1961) or in Webster (1967). A careful analysis of the resulting coupled roll and stabilizer system
shows that the stabilization performance depends principally on five parameters. Additonal
information about these parameters may be found in Appendix I.

Figure 15 - Anti-roll tank


19 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
A RAO of a ship in beam seas with and without a stabilizer defined by the parameters is shown
below.

Figure 16 - Comparison of the computed roll response of a typical ship with and
without a good passive roll tank
UNSTABILIZED:
Represents a RAO for a
ship without anti-rolling
device, with a roll damping
ratio of 0.05;

STABILIZED:
For a ship with a good
passive roll tank, for the
parameters shown above;
Controlled-passive tanks are similar to passive tanks, with the exception that the area of the water
cross-over tube is larger in cross section than in the passive one and that it contains a valve that
controls the air flux through the air cross-over duct. In general, this kind of system controls natural
and low frequencies roll motions. Figure 17 shows the comparison between different types of
passive tanks.


Figure 17 - Comparison of passive and controlled-passive roll stabilizing tanks
VALVES OPEN:
Represents a RAO for a
ship stabilized with a
controlled-passive tank
that is not operating;
VALVES ACTIVE:
For a ship with a working
controlled-passive tanks;
PASSIVE TANK:
For a ship with a good
passive tank;



20 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
Active tanks generally imply that the system requires the use of machinery of significant power and
is designed to be much more effective in eliminating roll motions than passive systems. For that
reason it consists on a system that detects motions of the ship and predicts the roll moment that will
be applied on an immediate future. With that information, the system applies a roll moment that
will cancel this predicted moment. For U-tube tanks this kind of system usually provides a large lag in
the tank response and requires a great amount of efficiency and power from the pumps for the
system to work properly.
For FPSOs, however, the biggest problem is related to the draft variation. It makes the application of
any anti-roll stabilizing tank a very difficult task, since the natural period of the U-tank system would
have to be tuned all time, changing it from a passive system to an almost active system, with all its
disadvantages. Additionally, any mistake in the anti-roll tank tuning may lead even to an
amplification of the roll motion (ref. [11]).
7.2. BILGE KEELS
The magnitude of roll depends both on the relationship between the FPSO and wave dimension, as
well as the resonant effects. Since modifications on the geometry are usually complicated, especially
in converted units, the influence of damping becomes fundamental. However, the ship shape and
the length over breadth relation results in a small damping in transverse motions, with consequent
great sensitivity to resonant effects. Thus, the first attempt to reduce roll motion can be the
introduction of artificial damping, and bilge keels are the simplest way to do it.
These appendages are usually constructed from flat plates that form a sharp obstruction to the roll
motion. In ships, the height of a bilge keel is usually selected to be such that the tip of the bilge keel
lies within the maximum beam and above the baseline, in order to keep it protected during docking,
drydocking and shallow water sail. The size of the bilge keel also has to be restricted in ships, since it
can increase the forward resistance. Figure 19 presents a comparison of bilge keel effects with
forward speed.

Figure 18 - Bilge keel arrangement Figure 19 - Bilge keel effectiveness

Formulations for damping estimation, based on the model test regression analysis were developed.
Equation 14 presents the zero-speed damping ratio estimation, based on ship and bilge keel
characteristics.

21 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
(14)
Where:
A
BK
is the total area of the bilge keels (port and starboard).
b
BK
is the width of the bilge keel.
C
B
is the block coefficient.
d is the distance from the centerline at the load waterline to the turn of the bilge.
L is the length of the ship.
B is the beam of the ship.
T is the draft of the ship.

4
is the roll amplitude in radians.
Although the bilge keel effectiveness increases as larger the structure is, there is a limitation due to
the increasing in the advance resistance. However, since FPSOs are stationary systems, there is no
limitation to bilge keel dimensions, which could be enlarged, resulting in two different hydrodynamic
effects: the increase of damping forces and the increase of added inertia.
Several studies had been carried out in order to evaluate the effectiveness of large bilge keels for
FPSO, mostly based on model tests, and results have shown that enlarged keels can produce more
than 100% increase on damping coefficients. Table 4 shows the damping, as a percentage of the
critical damping, for different sizes (widths) of bilge keel (ref. [11]).
Table 4 - Enlarged bilge keel effectiveness
Bilge Keel Width Damping
0.45m 2.46%
0.90m 3.90%
1.80m 6.51%

However, studies have shown that changes on the width are much more effective than modification
on the extension, in terms of extra damping. Some investigations have already discussed about
adverse pitch motions when large bilge keels are extended too far forward.
Attention must be paid for possible effects of added inertia when it comes to very large bilge keels,
which can result in higher natural periods. Table 5 shows the roll natural period variation on a new-
built FPDSO concept after the introduction of a 4m wide bilge keel (ref. [24]).
Table 5 - Natural period variation due to enlarged bilge keel
NATURAL PERIOD (s)
wo/ Enlarged Bilge Keel w/ Enlarged Bilge Keel
Roll 20.74 23.20


22 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
As previously highlighted, higher roll natural periods may be useful in terms of detuning the motion
response against the wave energy spectrum, but may lead to undesirable second-order effects.
However, since the motions cased by second-order effects are slow (and drag forces are related to
squared velocity), the effectiveness of bilge keels are smaller.
Additionally, extra-large bilge keels are subjected to high drag forces, which may induce to structural
and construction problems.



23 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
8. REFERENCES

[1] ABS; Passenger Comfort on Ships, 2001, Houston, USA.
[2] API RP 2SK; Design and Analysis of Station Keeping Systems for Floating Structures; Third
Edition.
[3] Buchner, B.; Green Water on the Bow of FPSOs, Hydrodynamics of Floating Structures Training
Course, 2007.
[4] Bunnik, T.; Cozijn, J.; Analysis of Mooring Systems, Hydrodynamics of Floating Structures
Training Course, 2007.
[5] Chakrabarti, S. K.; Hydrodynamics of Offshore Structures, 1987, Computational Mechanics
Publications.
[6] Chakrabarti, S. K.; Offshore Structure Modeling, 1994, World Scientific Publishing Co.
[7] Chen, X-B.; Orozco, J-M.; Malenic, S.; Evaluation of Wave and Current Loads on Offloading
FPSOs, 2005, OTC 17180, Houston, USA.
[8] Cueva, D.; Campos, F.; Donato, M.; Ferrari, J.; Torres, F.; Nishimoto, K.; Dimensional Study for
Brazilian FPSO, 2005, OMAE2005-67333, Halkidiki, Greece.
[9] Del Vecchio, C.; Costa, L.; Station Keeping in Deep and Ultradeep Waters, 1999, OTC 10778,
Houston, USA.
[10]Faltinsen, O. M.; Sea Loads on Ships and Offshore Structures, 1990, Cambridge University
Press.
[11]Ferrari, J.; Ferreira, M.; Assessment of the Effectiveness of the Bilge Keel as an Anti-Roll Device
in VLCCSized FPSOs, 2002, ISOPE, Kitakyushu, Japan.
[12]Ferreira, M.; Torres, F.; Cueva, D.; Ceppollina, D.; Pinheiro, S.; Correa Jr, H.; Umeda, C.;
Hydrodynamic Aspects of the New Build FPSOBR, 2005, IWAOH, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
[13]Ikeda, Y.; Himeno, Y.; Tanaka, N.; A Prediction Method for Ship Roll Damping, 1978, Report of
University of Osaka.
[14]Kaster, F.; Rossi, R.; Masetti, I.; Falkenbers, E.; Karlsen, S.; Waclawek, I.; DICAS A New Mooring
Concept for FPSOs, 1997, OTC 8439, Houston, USA.
[15]Lapidaire, P.; Leeuw, P.; The Effect of Ship Motions on FPSO Topsides Design, 1996, OTC 8079,
Houston, USA.
[16]Lee, C.; On the evaluation of quadratic forces on stationary bodies, 2006, Chestnut Hill, USA.
[17]Lewis, E.; Principles of Naval Architecture, 1989, Second Revision Vol. III, SNAME.
[18]Luo, Y.; Ye, W.; Mooring and Riser Design for GoM FPSOs in 10,000 Ft Water Depth, 2005, OTC
17620, Houston, USA.
[19]Maruo, H.; The drift of a body floating on waves, 1960, Ship Res.
[20]Mastrangelo, C.; One Company's Experience on Ship-Based Production System, 2000, OTC
12053, Houston, USA.

24 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
[21]Neto, T.; Lima, H.; Conversion of Tankers into FPSOs and FSOs: Practical Design Experiences,
2001, OTC 13209, Houston, USA.
[22]Newman, J.; Second-order diffraction in short waves, 2004, Workshop on Water Waves and
Floating Bodies, Cortona, Italy.
[23]Newman, J.; The drift force and moment on ships in waves, 1967, J. Ship Res.
[24]Nishimoto, K; Videiro, P; Fucatu, C; Matos, V; Cueva, D.; Cueva, M.; A Study of Motion
Minimization Devices of FPDSOs, 2001, OMAE2001/OFT-1131, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
[25]NR 497 DTM R00 E; Hull Structure of Production, Storage and Offloading Surface Units, Bureau
Veritas, 2004.
[26]Offshore Magazine; 2007 Worldwide Survey off Floating Production, Storage and Offloading
(FPSO) Units, 2007, Houston, USA.
[27] Olgivie, F.; Second-order hydrodynamic effects on ocean platforms, 1983, Proc. Intl Workshop
on Ship & Platform Motions, Berkley, USA.
[28]Orozco, J.; Raposo, C.; Malenica, S.; A Practical Procedure for the Evaluation of the Roll
Motions of FPSO's Including the Non potential Damping, 2002, OTC 14234, Houston, USA.
[29]Palazzo, F.; Silva, A.; Oliveira, C.; Oliveira, M.; On the Latest Petrobras FPSO Design Procedures:
Hydrodynamic and Mooring Aspects, 2004, OMAE-FPSO04-0079, Houston, USA.
[30]Park, I.; Shin, H.; Chung, H. Beek, J; Development of a Deep Sea FPSO Suitable for the Gulf of
Mexico Area, 2002, OTC 13999, Houston, USA.
[31]Portella, R.; Kameyama, V.; Wibner, C.; Maloney, J.; P43/P48 Global Motion and Stability
Analysis: A Compromise Combination to Define the FPSO Operational Behavior, 2003, OTC
15138, Houston, USA.
[32]Portella, R.; Mendes, B.; DICAS Mooring System: Practical Design Experience to Dismystify the
Concept, 2002, OTC 14309, Houston, USA.
[33]Rezende, F.; Chen, X.; Ferreira, M.; Second Order Roll Motions for FPSO's Operating in Severe
Environmental Conditions, 2007, OTC 18906, Houston, USA.
[34]Santos, A.; Henriques, C.; Pimenta, J.; Improvments Achieved in the Project of FPSO P-50,
2004, OTC 16705, Houston, USA.
[35]Sousa Jr, J.; Fernandes, A.; Masetti, I.; Silva, S.; Kroff, S.; Nonlinear Rolling of an FPSO with
Larger-than-Usual Bilge Keels, 1998, OMAE98-0412, Lisbon, Portugal.
[36]Wu, X.; Tao, L.; Li, Y.; Nonlinear Roll Damping of Ship Motions in Waves. 2005, ASME 205-211.



25 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs
9. APPENDIX I - DEFINITIONS OF VARIABLES USED IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE STABILIZERS
STABILIZER SIZE
Effect of variations of stabilizer size on roll
stabilization

: Loss of metacentric height caused by
the stabilizer (free surface loss).
: Metacentric height with liquid in mid-
position.



STABILIZER TUNING FACTOR
Effect of variations of stabilizer tuning on roll
stabilization

: Natural frequency of the stabilizer.

: Roll natural frequency.


NONDIMENSIONAL STABILIZER DAMPING
Effect of variations of stabilizer damping on roll
stabilization

B
t
: Stabilizer's equivalent linear damping.
B
ct
:Stabilizer's critical damping.


GM
T
GM
T0
GM
T
GM
T0
t
t
n4
t
t
2 g
S
'
; S
'
0
L
A
0
A
d
n4
t
B
t
B
ct

26 ROLL MOTIONS OF FPSOs

STABILIZER CAPACITY
Effect of stabilizer capacity damping on roll
stabilization in short crested random seas

s
, maximum angle to which the stabilizer can
heel the ship with all of the weight in the
stabilizer on one side (static heel angle induced
when the fluid inside has moved to one side and
completely fills one wing tank).Typical values of
capacity are 2 to 6 degrees.


STABILIZER HEIGHT PARAMETER
Effect of variations of stabilizer height on roll
stabilization




The following parameters represent a typical good design of a stabilizer:


t
S
' '
S
'
S
' '
0
L
q
R
d
0.20
t
1.08
t
0.30
S
0.05
t
0.00