Compliant platforms such as articulated towers are economically attractive for deep water conditions because of their reduced

structural weight compared to conventional platforms. The foundation of the tower does not resist lateral forces due to wind, waves and currents instead, restoring moments are provided by a large buoyancy force, a set of guylines or a combination of both. These structures have a fundamental frequency well below the wave lower-bound frequency. As a result of the relatively large displacements, geometric non-linearity is an important consideration in the analysis of such a structure. Most investigators have considered the tower to be an upright rigid pendulum attached to the sea floor via a pivot having one or two degrees of freedom. Construction of articulated towers An articulated platform consists of a base plate resting on the ocean bottom, a universal swivel joint and a column with buoyancy tanks. The column can be a truss type in which case the buoyancy tanks are attached to the truss at convenient levels. If the column is cylindrical and water tight, the buoyancy is offered by the watertight cylinders itself. The cylindrical towers can be made of steel or concrete. The articulated platforms offer lower construction cost, fewer sitting problems and an environmental cleaner method of loading. Whilst most of these structures built so far have been of steel construction, some are built of both steel and concrete, employing each material in the zone for which it is best suited. For example, the structure for the maureen field in the north sea had its central column constructed of prestressed concrete, with upper and lower sections of steel. The articulation ensures that no moment is transferred to the seafloor. The reduction this makes possible in structural dimensions consequently reduces the wave force and the lateral force tending to produce sliding. The concept has been applied to flare stacks, offloading terminals and deep water moorings of vessels for floating production systems. The installation of these systems require a very sophisticated application of advanced hydrodynamics and construction engineering. An experimental concrete articulated tower (CONAT) was installed in 31 m of water, 63 km off the island of Helegoland, in the West German sector of the North Sea, in May 1980. The design wave deflection of this tower was calculated to be 380 although deflection is not expected to exceed 150 in the measurement.

Design: small fields; crude oil is moved up the tower and transferred to a tethered tanker for processing and storage, shuttle tanker transports receives processed oil and transports it to shore or pipeline is used. Depth: shallow less than 200 m (buoy may be used in deep water) Advantages: Low cost Large restoring moments due to high center of buoyancy Risers are protected by tower Buoy system may be used in deep water

Disadvantages: Shallow water only - greater oscillations as depth increases Cannot operate in bad weather Limited to small fields Fatigue of universal joint (single point failure) Riser not protected by buoy