Numerical and experimental study on the dynamic behavior of a sea-star tension leg platform against regular waves

This paper describes an experimental work on a 1:100 scaled model of a miniature sea-star tension leg platform (TLP) in a wave flume. Two different numerical models are developed: finite element model (FEM) based on the Morison equation and boundary element model (BEM) based on a 3D diffraction/radiation theory. The developed codes are used to calculate hydrodynamic forces and related coefficients. The nonlinear hull/tendon coupled dynamic equation of a mini sea-star TLP is solved by using a modified Euler method (MEM). The results of numerical modeling of the motion response behavior of the platform in different degrees of freedom are compared with experimental data. This comparison shows good agreement between the results. Furthermore, this modeling reveals that the first-order diffraction method and quasi-static tendon modeling are sufficient in general for the hydrodynamic analysis of the sea-star TLP.