Fiber Mooring for Ultra-Deepwater Applications

摘要

Exploratory drilling is conducted in increasingly greater water depth,with recent records in 3,000 m. New technologies for ultra-deepwaterdrilling demand increased performance from mooring systems, such astight watch circle, enhanced reliability, and ease of deployment.Synthetic fiber mooring lines are essential components to help meetthese demands. Because of the relative lack of industry experiencewith this new material, advanced studies are required to confirm thesuitability of polyester-based mooring systems for ultra-deepwaterdrilling. This paper provides information on the performance ofpolyester mooring lines, and compares proposed design methodologies,such as API RP 2SM, with fully coupled nonlinear mooring analyses.