A decision support system for floating platform design

This paper describes a methodology developed for the preliminary design of floating production platforms. The preliminary design approach interlinks the mathematical design model with global optimization techniques. To illustrate the design procedure, the initial intermediate and final results are presented. They provide a clear understanding of the mathematical model and the decision support system. The preliminary design approach described here is based on the commercial software which is interfaced to what is called the FPS system and linked to a SEARCH package for design solutions. The paper summarizes the preliminary design approach, the mathematical model optimization and presents semisubmersible and TLP platform-examples. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.