Investigation of Pressure Distribution around a Vertical Circular Cylinder due to Random Sea Waves Based on Experimental Data

Cylinders with circular hollow sections (CHSs) are widely used elements in the construction of offshore structures such as jacket templates and jack-up rigs, because of their good resistance against bending, torsion and buckling, and a high strength-to-weight ratio. Since the circular cylinders in offshore platforms are subjected to sea waves having a random nature, study of a CHS element under the random waves can provide very useful information and leads to valuable results. Random wave induced forces are the functions of asymmetric pressure distribution around the cylinder and its temporal variation. In the literature, many published works have been focused on the study of the random wave induced forces on the circular cylinders and the pressure distribution around the cylinder under the random waves has not been considerably investigated. In the present paper, using experimental data, the pressure distribution around a circular cylinder is investigated and an equation is proposed for determination of pressure value at an arbitrary point on the surface of the cylinder. Utilized data are the results of experiments conducted on the circular cylinders under the random waves in the Delta wave channel of the university of Delft's hydraulics laboratory.