3.5.3.3 Mooring configuration
Placing mooring lines in the model was important to allow
the model to reach equilibrium over time under the
influence of the effects of waves and currents in a relatively
constant direction. An estimate of the mooring system
configuration was made since mooring design was
not final during simulations. The mooring lines are shown
in Figure 3.57.
The mooring system was modeled using six lines, three
lines on each side of the boom. When seen from the top at
each side of the boom, one line is attached parallel to the
boom and the other two lines are placed perpendicular
to the boom in both directions. The parallel mooring lines
Figure 3.57 Mooring configuration in model
transfer the initiated tension in the boom to the seabed
while the perpendicular mooring lines transfer the loads
from incoming waves and current.
The lines are fixed to the seabed at a horizontal distance
of 100 m from the boom end. The vertical distance from
the boom end is also 100 m as this is the water depth
of the model. All mooring lines are approximately 145 m
long. The mooring lines as modelled here are far from the
real life situation where they need to go to depths of several
kilometers. They therefore do not represent mooring
lines in any other way than to keep the boom from floating
away. This implies that the dynamics of the mooring lines
cannot be analyzed from these simulations, which was
also not the goal here.