Indexed by:Journal Papers
Date of Publication:2019-12-01
Journal:INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OFFSHORE AND POLAR ENGINEERING
Included Journals:SCIE
Volume:29
Issue:4
Page Number:500-507
ISSN No.:1053-5381
Key Words:Bearing fault analysis; soft yoke mooring system; FPSO; hinge point; field monitoring
Abstract:Due to the complexity of the loading and motions of vessels in marine environments, many uncertainties are involved in the design of mooring systems. A soft yoke mooring system (SYMS) has been applied to moor the floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel in the shallow water of Bohai Bay, China. The SYMS has 6 hinge points that are composed of 13 sliding bearings and rolling bearings. The bearings may be damaged as a result of long-term use, improper maintenance, and harsh ocean environmental conditions. The faults of the bearings will affect the function of the yoke and even drag the tower platform down. Thus, any faults in the bearings need to be addressed. Information inside the bearings cannot be measured directly; therefore, an indirect monitoring method was proposed, and a real project was presented. The real project monitored the rotation angle of the problematic rolling bearing, the strain responses, and the displacement variations in the hinges' axes. Furthermore, both sides of the yoke legs were monitored continuously, and the variation tendency of the problematic rolling bearing was evaluated by comparing the difference between the two legs. The results showed the feasibility of the present monitoring system in safety assessments of the SYMS, but more information is needed for a comprehensive evaluation. For example, vibration diagnostic techniques may be a better method because they have been widely used in the fault diagnosis of rotating machines.
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