Ocean Engineering 82 (2014) 8590

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Ocean Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/oceaneng

A simplied computational method for random seismic responses

of a jacket platform
Bo Zhou n, Xiaoshuang Han, Soon-keat Tan
Maritime Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A simplied method for modeling Jacket Offshore Platform was developed and numerical examples were
Received 15 January 2013 presented to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. In this method, a jacket platform was
Accepted 19 February 2014 described as a cantilever beam subjected to an axial compressive load acting at the top-end centre of the
Available online 15 March 2014
jacket. The random seismic responses of the model were derived by using both the pseudo-excitation
Keywords: method and the classical Ritz method. The authors found and demonstrated in this paper that this
Jacket platform proposed method may be used to calculate the random responses accurately and efciently. In particular,
Pseudo-excitation method the responses of a non-uniform beam, in the form of an auto-PSD function, cross-PSD or higher spectral
Random seismic response moments could be solved directly without the need to determine the normal modes. The writers
Simplied method
included an example in which the solution was obtained using the proposed method with a selected Ritz
Ritz method
function. The results were compared with that obtained using the conventional nite element method
Simplied model
(FEM). The ndings of the study showed that the proposed method was effective, practical and useful in
the seismic design of platforms.
& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Although vibration of jacket platforms under seismic excitation
has been studied extensively, the subject is still being investigated
today (Zhou, 2004; Han et al., 2006, 2008; Bargi et al., 2011; Park
et al., 2011). With the wide-spread use of the nite element software,
the research focus has been set on three-dimensional modeling of
the seismic response of the platform. Ideally the more comprehen-
sive and more inclusive are the models, the more accurate the
computation results are expected. However, these comprehensive
models are not easily accomplished and acceptable in engineering
practice because of their low computational efciency and model
complexity. Therefore, the current engineering practice still prefers
simplied structural calculation model in which a reasonable degree
of precisions could be achieved. This paper deals with such a
simplied model and method of computation.
In a conventional random vibration methods, such as the
Square Root of the Sum of Squares (SRSS) and Complete Quadratic
Combination (CQC) methods, the combination of modes are either
ignored or they are too complicated if not outright difcult to be
applied. An accurate and efcient method for computing the
random vibration, known as the Pseudo-Excitation Method
(PEM), has been developed since early 1980s. PEM could be
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: 65 67906619; fax: 65 67906620.
E-mail address: zhoubo@ntu.edu.sg (B. Zhou).
applied with ease because by using this method, the structural
stationary random response analysis may be reduced to the
analysis of structural harmonic response, while non-stationary
random response may be calculated by using a step-by-step
integration scheme, see Lin et al. (1995). PEM is an accurate
Complete Quadratic Combination (CQC) method as the cross-
correlation quadratic terms between the participant modes and
that between the excitations have both been considered. In general,
the random responses of a continuous structure may be obtained by
using the orthogonal property of natural modes to reduce the
number of degrees of freedom, see Chopra (2005). Thus some
normal modes of the continuous structure have to be computed,
which may present certain degree of challenge in the analysis of the
non-uniform beam whose normal modes may not be determined
readily.
In this study, the PEM associated with the classical Ritz method
was used to analyze the random seismic responses of jacket
platforms, such as auto-PSD function, cross-PSD and higher
spectral moments, etc., without the need to compute the normal
modes. A simplied method of modeling jacket platform was
studied rst, and a simplied calculation model based on beam
theory was presented for the analysis of random seismic
responses. Numerical examples were conducted to demonstrate
the validity of the methodology. Then the classical Ritz method
and the pseudo-excitation method were combined to prescribe
the problem: the pseudo governing differential equation was
developed by specifying the pseudo-ground acceleration, and the

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2014.02.013
0029-8018 & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
86 B. Zhou et al. / Ocean Engineering 82 (2014) 8590

Ritz approach was used to study the transverse vibration of platforms

by expanding the displacement in a series of approximate functions
that could satisfy the boundary conditions. A numerical experiment
was conducted using the method proposed and the ndings using
this method were compared with those obtained from FEM. The
reliability and robustness of the proposed technique were demon-
strated and presented herein.

2. Analysis of simplied modeling method

v
A real structure is always complex and has to be simplied to
various degree to t into the framework of the numerical model
for dynamic analysis. Many research works on three-dimensional
(3-D) analysis have been conducted with the understanding that d
high-precision results could be obtained by using more complex
computational model (Fan and Xiao, 1997; Xiao, 1997; Wilson,
2000; Kim et al., 2005; Han, 2008; Park et al., 2011). Often than
not, the objective may not be achievable due to the low-efciency
in the computation and the precision of the simulation results. b
In fact, it turns out that a simplied analytical method, with
appropriate simplication, could well satisfy the requirements of Fig. 1. Vibration of elliptic section in unbounded ow.
analytical delity and precision required by the engineering
profession has an important practical signicant.

2.1. Equivalent pile model

As a case in example, when there is a lack of soil data, an

equivalent pile model has been found to be a good model for
describing the characteristics of soil-structure interactions when
the foundation moves under certain environmental excitation
such as wave, current or earthquake. In this model, a pile driven
into the soil is assumed to be equivalent to a xed-end pile. The
stiffness characteristics of the equivalent pile is maintained the
same to correctly model the performance of the pile foundation. Fig. 2. A diagrammatic sketch for deriving a simplied model of a jacket platform.
This is an acceptable approach for the preliminary design, as
shown in Classication and construction specication for xed
offshore platforms (1992). Here, T is the depth of the rigid xed
end below the soil surface, and can be determined using the
following empirical formula:For foundation in sludge,
T 78:5D
For foundation in hard clay, Fig. 3. Equivalent beam element. (a) System of real external load. (b) System of
virtual load.
T 3:54:5D
and for soil information is missing, length is
T 6D ma b
2
2
where D is the outer diameter of pile (m).

2.2. Added mass 2.3. Characteristic parameter of a simplied model

There will be a certain amount of water moving as a result of
the vibration of the offshore platform. The amount and movement
of water should also be considered for proper dynamic response
analysis of an offshore platform. This amount of water is treated as
the added mass to the platform leg during the excitation. The
kinetic energy associated with the uid movement per unit length
of a pile is
1 2
T b v2 1 In Fig. 3(a), the virtual displacement i of the beam element jk
2
where is the mass density of the liquid (kg/m3), b is the radius of
the cylinder perpendicular to the direction of motion (m), as
shown in Fig. 1; and v is the velocity (m/s). The added mass ma
of water moving with the vibrating offshore platforms per unit
In terms of dynamic performance jacket platform are complex
and different from ordinary buildings, especially in the distribu-
tion of the stiffness and mass. The main loads are highly concen-
trated at the top parts of the structure, and the loads change with
the different production stages. Fig. 2 illustrates the simplication
process of a typical jacket platform. The complementary virtual
work principle is adopted in the derivation of the equivalent
stiffness, see Lu et al. (1992) and Han (2008).
is subject to a generalized force. Based on the principle of virtual
work, the generalized virtual external force is
n
W n F ni i 3
i1
 B. Zhou et al. / Ocean Engineering 82 (2014) 8590 87

where
M
W n the surplus energy
F in virtual force of i;
i the actual displacement of i; Ac
Ac

l
Based on the principle of surplus energy, and omitting the

Ad
Ad
effects of shear, the complementary virtual work of the equivalent

plane beam may be expressed as

W n N n uk  uj Q n vk  vj M n k  j 4 M
n n n
where N , Q and M are virtual axial force, virtual shear force and M M
virtual bending moment respectively. u is the displacement in the h h
x direction, v is displacement in the y direction, and is rotational
h
angle. Details of the various parameters are shown in Fig. 3(b).
The surplus energy per unit is Fig. 4. Moment of equivalent beam element.

n uk uj vk  vj k  j
W N n Q n M n 5
l l l l Q l Q
h 2 h 2 Ql
Here the coefcients after N n , Q n and M n are equivalent to the Q Q 2
real displacements caused by the equivalent forces N, Q and M. l is 2 2 Q
the length of the beam element. The surplus energy per unit based
on the equivalent forces N, Q and M is
Ac
n uk  uj n vk  vj n k  j
n
Ac
W N Q M 6

l
l l l

Ad
Ad
Q Q

2 2
Transforming Eq. (6) and expressed in the form of a partial
differential equation lead to Q
Ql
n l Q
W uk  uj N l Q 2
lim h 2 h 2
N l-0 l EAeq
n
W k  j M h
lim
M l-0 l EIeq Fig. 5. Shear of equivalent beam element.
n
W vk  vj Q
lim
Q l-0 l GAS eq Combining Eqs.(8) and (9), the equivalent bending stiffness of the
beam is
where 2
h E c Ac
EIeq 10
EAeq Equivalent axial stiffness. 2
EIeq Equivalent bending stiffness. For shear load on the beam as illustrated in Fig. 5, the axial force
GAS eq Equivalent shear rigidity. acting on the diagonal bar is
Qa
The surplus energy of equivalent beam element can be calcu- Fi 7
2h
lated by
where a is the length of the diagonal bar. The surplus energy may
1 1 F2l be written as
W n F i i i i 7 !
2 2 i Ei Ai 1 F 2i li Q 2 a3
W njk 2 2 11
where F i is the force acting on a structural member i; i is the 2 Ed Ad 4h Ed Ad
displacement at the location of F i in the corresponding direction; li
Eq. (11) may be expressed in the form of a partial differential
is the length of the beam element i; Ai is the cross-sectional area
equation,
and Ei is the elastic modulus. The equivalent exural rigidity EIeq
n
and equivalent shear stiffness GAS eq of the beam element are W njk W jk Q
derived from surplus energy. l l 12
Q Q GAS eq
Fig. 4 shows a typical segment of the truss structure between
two oors of a platform subject to a head-on incident wave. The The equivalent shear stiffness is
height is l and the width ish. The surplus energy of the truss 2
2h lEd Ad
structure is GAS eq 13
a3
!
n 1 F 2i li M2 l Assuming each cross layer is rigidly connected, the equivalent
W jk 2 2 8 moment of inertia of a cross layer may be expressed as
2 E c Ac h Ec Ac
2
EIeq h Ec Ac 14
Eq. (8) may be expressed as follows:
n where Ac is cross-sectional area of vertical tubular, and h is the
W njk W jk M
l l 9 distance in the horizontal direction. Considering the effect of shear
M M EIeq translation, the shear area of an equivalent beam may be
88 B. Zhou et al. / Ocean Engineering 82 (2014) 8590

Fig. 7. The rst order natural frequency.

Fig. 6. Finite element model of jacket platform.

Table 1
Comparison of natural frequencies.

expressed as S/n Mode 3-D FEM Beam model without Beam model with
shape model (Hz) shear effect (Hz) shear effect (Hz)
2
2h lEd Ad
As 15 1 Horizontal 0.73 0.83 0.75
Ga3
2 Horizontal 2.45 2.63 2.51

2.4. Numerical examples for natural vibration characteristics

3. Differential equation of the bending motion of an axially
Fig. 6 shows the nite element model for a comprehensive six- loaded cantilever
leg jacket platform. The height of the platform L 68 m and water
depth was 23 m. The oor area of the platform was 48 m  20 m, The differential equation governing the bending motion for an
while the top area was 48 m  14 m. The inclination of six main axially loaded cantilever beam may be expressed as,
tubular members was at a slope of 10:1, and the dimension was
1333  19 mm. The dimension of the 12 tubular members at the Azu czu_ EIzu Nu  Azx g t 16
bottom was 762  16 mm and the dimension at the top was
where A is the cross-sectional area of the beam, E is Young's
610  13 mm. There were 3 decks. The mass of each deck, from
modulus of elasticity, I is the moment of inertia of the cross-
bottom to top in order, were 93 t, 267 t and 1231 t, respectively.
section, u is the lateral deection of the central line of the beam,
The spacing between the jacket legs was more than 510 times
is the mass density, N is the constant axial compressive load, and
that of the diameter of the legs, so the pile group effect between
 Azx g t denotes the seismic excitation, which varies with
the adjacent legs could be neglected. The impact of added mass
position and time, and induced beam motion as described by the
was considered and applied to the corresponding node on the
transverse displacement uz; t.
underwater part of the beam element. The end points of the piles
The boundary conditions for the cantilever beam at each
were modeled as xed-end below the soil surface at the depth
end are
6 times the diameter of the leg.
  ! !
The entire platform was modeled as a plate-girder composite 2 2
du d u d d u
structure. The deck and other platform components were modeled uz 0 0; 0; EI 2 0; EI 2 0
dz z 0 dz dz dz
as shell elements. The frame and jacket were modeled as beam zL zL

elements. Fig. 7 shows the rst order natural frequency of the

The beam is initially at static equilibrium, and the initial conditions
platform.
are
The 3-D platform above was simplied as cantilever beam
model. The natural frequencies were calculated for the simplied _ 0 0
uz; 0 0; uz;
model and comparison of natural frequencies for the two models
is shown in Table 1. It can be seen from Table 1 that the frequency Denoting the given Power Spectral Density (PSD) function of x g t
results of 3-D FEM model and simplied model were very closed as Sa , the acceleration that a pseudo sinusoidal ground motion
indeed. The accuracy of the results obtained using the simplied as derived base on the pseudo-excitation principle is
model were able to meet the requirements of a basic assessment p
of the structure in the preliminary design stage. x~ g t Sa eit 17
 B. Zhou et al. / Ocean Engineering 82 (2014) 8590 89

Substituting Eq. (17) into Eq. (16), the governing differential useful information, i.e.
equation becomes Z 1
p 0;r s2r 2 Sr d
Azu~ czu_~ EIzu
~ N u
~  Az Sa eit 18 0
Z 1
An approximate solution to the problem is obtained with the use
2;r 2 2 Sr d
of the RayleighRitz procedure. In this case, the transverse 0
displacements of the beam uz; t are approximated with the use
of q functions, which should satisfy only the essential conditions at where Sr is PSD of structural responses, and x,r is spectral
z 0 as moment.
q
~ t y~ j tj z fyg
uz; ~ 19
j1
4. Example application
where j z is the eigen function.
Substituting Eq. (19) into Eq. (18), multiplying the left-hand The following example is based on an offshore engineering
side by T , and integrating z from 0 to L leads to project, in which the jacket platform was simulated by using a
p cantilever beam subject to an axial load. Details of the parameters
~ Cfyg
Mfyg _~ Rfyg ~  fg Sa eit
~ K 1 fyg 20
were as described earlier in Section 2.4.
where The PSD of the stationary random process x g t was simulated
Z L using the Kanai-Tajimi ltered-white-noise spectrum, which
M AzT dz might be presented in the following form:
0
Z L
 2

C czT dz 1 42g g
0 Sx g    2  2 S 0 25
Z L
2

T 1 g 42g g
R  EIzdz 21
0

Z where g 15.6 s  1, g 0.6, and S0 0.001574 m2/s3.

L
K 1  N T
 dz The damping coefcient was set to be 0.01. A q-dimensional
0 Ritz vectors was used in the example and dened as R1 q
Z L
2 ; 3 ; :::; q 1 , where z/L and q 6. It can be shown readily that
fg AzT dz: 22
0 the Ritz vector was linearly independent and satised the geo-
metric boundary conditions.
Solving Eqs. (21) and (22), by using the method of integration by
parts twice and considering the boundary conditions of a canti-
lever beam yield
Z L
R EIzT dz
0
Z L
0
K 1  N T 0 dz
0

Let
K R K 1 
p
fpg  fg Sa
Eq. (22) can be rewritten as:
~ Cfyg
Mfyg _~ Kfyg
~ fpgeit 23
Then the solution of the differential equation of motion is
Fig. 8. PSDs of jacket-top displacement.
~
fytg fy~ r g ify~ i geit 24
Substituting Eq. (24) into Eq. (23), eliminating eit from the
resulting equations, and comparing the real part with the imagin-
ary part of the equation gives
Efy~ r g Dfy~ i g fF r g
 Dfy~ r g Efy~ i g fF i g

where
E K  2 M; D  C
If fy~ r g and fy~ i g are known, the displacement uz; t can be obtained
according to Eq. (19). Then by virtue of the following expressions,
the PSDs can be derived as
Suu z; juz; ~
~ tj2 ; SMM z; jMz; tj2
After the PSD of structural responses, denoted as Sr , has been
dened, the corresponding spectral moments can be calculated
readily. The zeroth moment and the second moment are the most Fig. 9. PSDs of bending moment at the mud line.
90 B. Zhou et al. / Ocean Engineering 82 (2014) 8590
Table 2
Spectral moments and extremums for the displacement at the top of the jacket.
Method s2r (m2) 2;r (m2s  2) Extremum (m)
FEA 1.420E  4 3.870E 3 5.05E  2
Simplied model 1.486E  4 4.224E 3 5.17E  2
Table 3
Spectral moments and extremums for the bending moment at the mud line.
Method s2r (N2m2) 2;r (N2m2s  2) Extremum (Nm)
FEA 2.505E 16 6.852E 17 6.71E 8
Simplied model 2.700E 16 7.664E 17 6.96E 8
Natural vibration characteristics of the platform were investi-
gated and the results of the simplied model were compared with
that of 3-D mode.
The platform was modeled using the two methods as described
in Section 2.4. In the section, the auto-PSDs for the displacement at
the top of the jacket (SUU ) and the bending moment at the mud
line (SMM ) were plotted in Figs. 8 and 9. Tables 2 and 3 listed their
variances s2r , second spectral moments2;r , and the extremums
based on statistical theory and three-sigma limits of probability
theory when the earthquake lasts for 20 s.
5. Discussion
Regarding PSD of jacket-top displacement and PSD of bending
moment at the mud line as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the largest
jacket-top displacement obtained using the 3-D model was
1.66  10  4 m2s and was observed at 5.21 rad/s, whereas it was
1.73  10  4 and occurred at 5.3 rad/s as determined using the
simplied model presented in the paper. Similarly, the largest PSD
of the bending moment at the mud line obtained using the
simplied model was 3.14  1016 at 5.3 rad/s, while it was
2.94  1016 and at a frequency of 5.21 rad/s obtained using the
by 3-D model. It may be noted that the largest PSD and the
correspondent frequency calculated using the simplied model
was marginally higher than that calculated using the 3-D model.
Moreover, the two gures by both 3-D model and simplied model
showed the same trend, and the peak values of PSDs were in
accordance with one another. Hence, it might be concluded that
the simplied model presented in the paper was able to meet the
requirements of a basic assessment of the structure in the
preliminary design stage.
With reference to the spectral moments and statistic extrema
of the structural responses, it is shown that the results obtained by
using the simplied model are in agreement with those of 3-D
FEM model.
It could be seen from Tables 2 and 3 that for the displacement
at the top of the jacket the maximum difference of the extremum
values is less than 2.4% and for the bending moment at the mud
line the maximum difference of the extremum values is less than
3.8%. Although the results contain some discrepancies but with the
maximum difference of the extremum values less than 4%, the
spectral moments and extrema are reasonably accurate and meet
the requirements of engineering precision. Considered the com-
plexity of the jacket platform, the simplied model presented in
the paper is practical in engineering practices.
6. Conclusions
Based on the research done in the work, the following remarks
can be made.
(1) A simplied method had been studied, and it was demonstrated
that the simplied model can truly reect the platform natural
characteristics of the rst two modes of vibration. The results
obtained with a one-dimensional model are able to meet the
requirements of a preliminary design.
(2) The pseudo-excitation method has been extended to calculate
random responses by combining it with the classical Ritz
method. Not only the accuracy and high efciency of the
pseudo-excitation method are made good use of, but also the
responses of a non-uniform beam, such as auto-PSD function,
cross-PSD and higher spectral moments, can be solved
directly avoiding the calculation of normal modes.
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