CFD for Floating Systems

Bob Gordon
Granherne Americas, Inc.

Outline
Overview

of CFD
Present Offshore Industry Use of CFD
Applications

Overview of CFD
What

is CFD?
Brief History
Overview of CFD Methods
Validation & Verification

Fluid Dynamics

Theoretical
Analytical Solutions (Heyday in 19th & early 20th Century)

Potential Flow
Many analytical solutions, including nonlinear equations (Airy, Stokes, Kelvin,
Lamb, Korteweg and de Vries, Stoker, )

Viscous Flow
Very few analytical solutions (Stokes, Poiseuille, Blasius, Ekman, )

Theory of Turbulence (Reynolds, 1889 ->)

Experimental
Many advances in laboratory and field instrumentation continue to

appear (e.g., Particle Image Velocimetry, Acoustic Doppler Current

Meters)

Computational
Many advances continue in physical models, algorithms, software

(parallelization) and computing hardware

Advances in CFD depend on good experimental data for verification
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Why CFD?
Real

world flows are too complex to be

addressed solely by theory or experimentation
Nonlinear
Complicated Geometry
Coupled (Heat & Mass Transfer, Chemical Reaction,
Fluid-Structure Interaction)
Turbulent

Some Historical Milestones

1922 - L. F. Richardson developed first

numerical weather prediction system
using finite differences calculated by
hand (Humans ~10-9 GFlop)
1946 - J. von Neumann develops
program for ENIAC to calculate
hydrogen bomb explosion (ENIAC ~10-6
GFlop)
1965 - Harlow & Welch develop the
MAC method at LANL; first successful
technique for incompressible flows
(CDC 6600 ~10-3 GFlop)
1981 - Spalding (ICL & CHAM)
develops the first commercial CFD code
- PHOENICS (CRAY X-MP ~100 GFlop)
2002 - NASA Pegasus5 CFD code is
used by Boeing to design the Sonic
Cruiser aircraft with much reduced
reliance on wind tunnel tests (IBM
BlueGene ~105 GFlop)
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Components of a Numerical
Solution Method

Mathematical Model
Incompressible vs. Compressible, Laminar vs. Turbulent, 2D vs. 3D, etc
Discretization Method
Finite Difference, Finite Volume, Finite Element
Coordinate System
Cartesian, Orthogonal and Non-orthogonal Curvilinear, etc
Numerical Grid
Structured, Block-structured, Unstructured
Finite Approximations
Accuracy vs. speed
Solution Method
Time stepping for transient; Iteration schemes for steady state
Convergence Criteria
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Validation & Verification

As with all Engineering Analysis codes, it is essential

that the model (i.e., code, conceptual modeling
assumptions, and input data) be verified and the
predicted results be validated
Validation ~ Solving the right equations
Compare against measured data
Compare against benchmark analytical and/or numerical
solutions

Verification ~ Solving the equations right

Check convergence with mesh and time step refinement
Make sure that numerical errors are sufficiently small

Offshore Industry Use of CFD

Oil Companies
Chevron
Shell
Petrobras
BP
ExxonMobil

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Service Co. & Consultants

Technip
8
Marintek
5
Marintek
3
Principia
2
SBM
1
BPP
1
Force
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Enabling Technology

Physical Models

Turbulence Models (DNS, LES, RANS)

Heat & Mass Transfer, Multi-Phase Flows, Combustion
Algorithms
Finite Element & Volume Methods
Grids

Moving Grids

Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian Methods (ALE)

Level Set Methods
Sliding Grids

Chimera Grids

Software
Parallelization

Hardware
Low Cost, High Performance Parallel Computing Architectures

Clusters
Grids
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Some Offshore Problem Areas

of Interest for CFD
Fluid-Structure

Interaction

Vortex-induced vibrations of risers

Vortex-induced motions of floating platforms
Flow

Around Vessel Hulls and Superstructure

Wind and current forces

Slam

and water impact loading

Sloshing in Tanks

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Riser VIV

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SOURCE: C.H.K. Williamson, Cornell U.

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DeepStar/MIT
Lake Seneca
Tests 2004

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SOURCE: K. Vandiver, MIT

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Classic VIV Catastrophe

If ignored, these vibrations can prove catastrophic to

structures, as they did in the case of the Tacoma
Narrows Bridge in 1940.
SOURCE: A. H. Techet, MIT
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VIV in the Ocean

Non-uniform currents effect

the spanwise vortex shedding
on a cable or riser.
The frequency of shedding
can be different along length.
This leads to cells of vortex
shedding with some length, lc.

SOURCE: A. H. Techet, MIT

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SOURCE: BP
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VIV Suppression

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SOURCE: BP, GlobalSantaFe, Shell

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Platform Vortex-Induced Motions

Same phenomenon as Riser

VIV

Vortex-induced motion
amplitudes (A) for a Spar can
up to 1.5 times the Platform
Diameter (D), if no VIV
suppression is used

Motion is typically in a Figure 8

pattern

Magnitude of A/D is velocity

dependent

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SOURCE: A. H. Techet, MIT

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Wave Slamming

Basic Physics
Drag forces: caused by

viscosity resulting in flow

separation
Inertia forces: related to the
acceleration of the incident
flow and the modification of
the incident wave pattern by
the member.
Slam forces: occur when a
wave engulfs a member
causing a volume of water to
be decelerated (conservation
of fluid momentum)

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Progress has bee made in

predicting loads using CFD
SOURCE: MARINTEK
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Surface Blow-Out Preventer

(SBOP)

Uses high pressure

casing riser
Allows wells to be drilled
quickly
Has been used in areas
with relatively calm
weather
Industry is looking to
extend to harsher
climates
Wave impact is a critical
issue

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SOURCE: Diamond Offshore Drilling

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Damage from Hurricane Waves

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SOURCE: Dave Wisch, Chevron

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Damage from Hurricane Waves

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SOURCE: Dave Wisch, Chevron

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Wind Forces

Typical industry practice

for offshore platform
design is to determine
wind loads from scaled
wind tunnel tests
Changes during design
or after installation may
require revision to wind
loads
CFD is being used to
determining effects of
changes
SOURCE: Force Technology
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Example Applications
Vortex-Induced

Vibration of a Long Riser

Vortex-Induced Motion of a Spar
Wave Slamming
Tank Sloshing
Drag on a Riser Fairing
Wind Loads

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VIV of a Long Riser

Riser Configuration

Work performed by
Chevron
Comparisons made
against high quality lab
data from Norwegian
Deepwater Program
Fully 3D simulations for a
riser with L/D=1400. This
is a world record!
Procedure was to find the
coarsest mesh that yields
the required accuracy

Elevation View of Mesh

SOURCE: OMAE2006-92124
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Comparisons with Lab Data

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SOURCE: OMAE2006-92124
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VIM of a Spar

Work performed by
Chevron
Tow tests made of 1:46
scale model of Genesis
spar
Care was taken to
include appurtenances in
both physical & numerical
models

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SOURCE: OMAE2005-67238
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Mesh

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SOURCE: OMAE2005-67238
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VIM Results

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SOURCE: OMAE2005-67238
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Wave Impact - Idealized Case

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SOURCE:OTRC 11/05A156
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Wave Slamming on GBS Deck

Work performed by
Marintek
Wave basin model of
Statfjord GBS at 1:54
scale
Deck instrumented to
record wave impact loads
Excellent agreement with
CFD calculation

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SOURCE: OMAE2005- 67097

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Tank Sloshing

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SOURCE: CD-adapco

Observed and predicted wave profile

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Tank Sloshing Validation

SOURCE: CD-adapco
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Summary

CFD has become a mainstream engineering tool for

many industrial applications
Appropriate for initial studies
Appropriate to interpolate and extrapolate measurements

Adoption in the Offshore Oil & Gas industry is growing

rapidly

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