AN INVESTIGATION ON EFFECT OF MOORING CHARACTERISTICS ON MOORING FORCES OF MULTI ROWS FLOATING PIERS

Simultaneous effects of mooring characteristics and waves heading on mooring forces of a multi-rows floating pier which is composed of pontoons have been investigated in this paper. The investigated variable parameters include the moorings array, number of mooring lines and their pretensions. A floating structure consisting of 12 pontoons connected together with rigid connectors and is located under irregular sea waves. Hydrodynamic analyses have been carried out for various conditions. Results show that even though pre-tensioning of mooring lines results in increasing of the structure stiffness and better force distributions between mooring lines, however, increasing the pre-tensioning from critical values has no considerable effect on the structure responses. Using the results of present work and requirements from multi-pontoons, it is possible to suggest a proper mooring system and direction of floating structure in the conceptual design of such structures.