Numerical simulation of deepwater deployment for offshore structures with deploying cables

Deepwater deployment of offshore structures in different sea states was investigated. The whole deployment system was modeled as a lumped mass model, and discretization scheme for cable geometry and methodology for calculating the internal and external force acting on deploying cable were presented. The deployment model suitable for the time-varying length of deploying cable was specified. The free-surface flow fields together with the ship motions were used to calculate dynamic tension in the deploying cable during deployment of the structure. The deployment of deep sea mining system which was a typical subsea working system was employed. Based on lumped mass analysis model and parameters of deep sea mining system, numerical simulations were performed, and dynamic load and dynamic amplification factor (DAF) with different cable parameters, deploying velocities and sea states were obtained. It is shown that cable parameters and amplitudes of ocean waves can significantly influence the dynamic load and DAF, and the time-varying natural period of deploying system is a dominant factor, while the effect of deploying velocity is not obvious.