Simple Approach to Understand

The Concept of the Floating Island

DHOW-4

By:

Dr. Abdullah Daou

 Concept of the Floating Island: DHOW-4

A. Specific Differences between a Ship or an Offshore Structure

and the Floating Island:

1. Ships are designed to cruise at the maximum possible speed for

transportation purposes from origin A to destination B. The Dhow_4 floating
island is designed basically to float at a defined area of operation, at low
cruising speed; to provide a fabricated floating and stable lot of land offshore
of the crowded and extremely expensive coast lines of the city. Or to utilize a
strategic base to serve an essential need to the high seas.

2. Ships are designed to confront the sea waves and emerge through them.
The floating island is designed not to confront the sea waves, but to absorb
their rush and shred and dissipate them through the body of the island.

3. When ships become larger, the main deck becomes higher to avoid the
flushing of the main deck by the waves. The floating island main deck can
be always a footstep above the water surface level, in calm sea, and it can
be easily adjusted to suite rough sea, no matter how large the ultimate waves
are.

4. The ship stability is designed to accept any degree of inclination caused

by rolling, pitching and heaving providing that the ship remains floating. The
floating island is designed to avoid rolling, pitching and heaving and the
main deck always remains within very smooth alterations. The centre of
gravity of the floating island CG is below the centre of buoyancy BC;
thus creating significant stability of the Floating Island.

5. Ships are designed within restricted ratios between their length and
breadth to keep the hull in a clear longitudinal form, with acute stem and
narrow transom. The floating island can be of any deemed shape; square,
rectangular, circular, elliptic or other. This is to suite the refined demand of the
architect by applying a main deviation in marine design; shifting the buoyancy
lift from the centre of the floating structure to the peripheric mass of this
structure; this is also creating additional significant stability.

6. The height of the super structure over the ship main deck is restricted to
tight measures claimed by the breadth, length and height ratios and degrees
of rolling and pitching. The floating island can be of any required length
and the appropriate breadth and depth to allow for any deemed height.

7. The ship hull, small or large, is one hull divided by the bulkheads into a
moderate number of water locked zones. The floating island can be of
tens and hundreds of completely independent hulls and compartments;
arranged together to form the structure of the island.

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 Concept of the Floating Island: DHOW-4

Moreover the steel structural system can be designed totally from self
buoyant members; therefore the safety of a floating island against sinking is
incomparable with any existing floating structure.

8. The floatability of large ships relies on bulk steel sheets. Corrosion and
delamination are everlasting problems in these large hulls. The floatability of
the floating island relies on a very large number of hulls made of fiber
reinforced plastics, where corrosion and delamination are very minor to be
considered, and HULL DAMAGE IS NOT A FATAL PROBLEM TO THE
WHOLE STRUCTURE.

B. Brief Analysis of the Hull Design and Diversion of the

Advanced Engineering of the Floating Island DHOW-4:

1. The conventional hull:

The conventional hull design considers a sharp stem of a ship to

cut into the mass of the waters but it is not oriented to intercept the
vertical oscillation of a wave. This is accepted as an unavoidable obligation
in marine engineering and addressed by lifting the main deck within a given
proportion to the dimensions of the ship, along with the design of the hull lines
that is generated to comply with the speed and the function of the ship. This
ship design criteria allows for a considerable margin for pitching and rolling
and heaving of the hull within the accepted measures of stability. These
measures of stability are adopted to maintain the floatability of the ship
without any significant consideration to the human comfort on board.
This approach to the hull design is based on the concept of confronting
the wave, and yields the accepted obligation of allocating the maximum
buoyancy of the hull at the middle zone of the hull span. In full adherence
to the optimal possibility of loads distribution dominated by the yielding
strength of the specified material when reacting to the applied stresses
endured through the motion of the ship within the accepted limits of the six
degrees of freedom of a free body in motion.

2. The Advanced Engineering of the Floating Island is a radical deviation

from a hull design:

a. The steel structure:

An illustrated space frame steel structure is constructed with steel

tubes designed to fit for the applied loads. The steel tubular section is well
reputed for the handling of different applied forces to a steel member,
along with the ability to anticipate positively with the buoyancy
calculations of a floating structure. These members are assembled either

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 Concept of the Floating Island: DHOW-4

by steel flexible nods designed to fit for the purpose, or by welding and
bolting the members at the nods location.
By optimizing the spans, sections and the multi-grids we can design
the space frame steel structure as large as the applied material can take
loads and stresses. In this aspect, we can construct small platforms and large
platforms of thousands, tens of thousands and millions of square meters.
Since 1945 the space frame structures were applied mainly for roofing and
light loads. The floating island application of the space frame steel structure
required radical improvements in the aspects of this structure.

b. FRP shells for buoyancy:

We shall use a definite number of small GRP hulls to form the required
area within defined dimensions, each of these hulls shall be fixed on top of a
steel frame platform, and assembled to the other hulls. The curve lines design
of these hulls formed of continuous shell crown to create the desired
buoyancy, with shell roots emerging down at given intervals to form
interruptible buoyancy members arranged in lanes abroad the area of the
deck.
This design of the hull lines is made to allow the water to rush
between the hulls. A defined area in the middle of the main deck of the
structure shall be kept void without installing any boats. It must remain
without any displacement value.
Inside the pyramidal voids of the space frame, we insert and fix GRP or
steel cylindrical shells of defined diameter (ballasts). The front and back
heads of the shells shall take a sharp head shape to minimize the water
resistance.

c. FRP flat bars and plates for wave handling:

Now we have a floating structure, reinforced by the steel structure

and floating by the buoyancy of the GRP shells. At the front head of this
structure a front blade of slim thickness and minimal width is lined along the
front width. Its function is to perform the first horizontal cut of the wave
vertical oscillation with the minimal upper or lower thrust exerted on the
blade by the vertical oscillation of the Floating structure into the mass of the
water. Consequently at the front elevation and between the arrayed hulls
another array of small GRP flexible blades is installed to form a grid
between every two hulls, and down continuously between the ballasts. This
grid arrangement form a wave shredding system to intercept the wave
continued oscillation behind the front blade; same grid arrangement is
installed at the back end of the structure.
At the back end of the structure another blade is installed. The length
of the blade covers the width of the structure. The thickness shall be
calculated to be integrated with the required buoyancy at the back end, and its
width shall be calculated to form a large bed to help preventing the tale of the
structure from massive pitching and rolling.

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 Concept of the Floating Island: DHOW-4

At the front end of the side elevations of the structure, an

arrangement of wave shredders grid is installed to cover the full height of
each side front end. At the back end of the side elevations of the structure a
similar grid arrangement is installed but with calculated length. Between
these two arrangements a grid of horizontal steel cables is laid at designed
spacing to allow water flow and prevent large fish penetration.
At the bottom surface of the structure, bottom plates are installed.
The dimensions of the blade are designed to meet the functional
requirements. Void zone between each two plates is provided for free flow of
water. The arrangement of the bottom plates is confined in the front and
rear triangles created by the intersection of the diagonals of the bottom
surface.
This set of different arrangements of shredders, blades and plates
affect the stability of the Floating Structure minimizing the effect of the
sea wave impact over the structure.

d. Rigid and flexible joints:

The structure shall be subjected to continuous static and dynamic

loads. At most of the cases the loads are applied to the GRP components and
transferred to the steel structure. The GRP is known to be strong in tension
and compression but of less strength in torsion and weak in flexural, while the
steel is stronger in physical properties but fails to compete in chemical ones.
Combining steel and GRP in one integrated structure implies that an
essential care must be given to the type of joints applied between steel
and GRP as well as GRP and GRP. A wide range of solutions can be of
considerable efficiency to handle this issue. Reinforced rubber is a valid
application as a flexible membrane in these joints.

C. The Electromechanical System:

1. The propulsion sets:

The engine rooms are constructed inside the grid modules of the
rear part of the space frame. The sufficient number of propulsion sets is
distributed along the width of the back end of the space frame to distribute the
propulsion thrust load evenly among the members of the steel structure. This
wide span between the propulsion sets makes the rudders unnecessary
and maneuvering can be performed by altering the propellers thrust and
direction of rotation.

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 Concept of the Floating Island: DHOW-4

At the front corners of the structure propulsion sets are installed in

transversal direction to be used as bow thrust units and for dynamic
positioning with the main sets when needed.
Electrical power generation can be utilized by all means of available
sources. Electric driven propellers can be adopted at various locations
below the bottom grid of the Island. This will defuse stresses evenly among
the members of the structure.

2. Ballast pumps:

The ballast system shall be filled and discharged by an

electromechanical set. Each set consists of pumps, solenoid valves and non-
return valves. The ballasts are ventilated through main shafts to the top of the
structure. The ballast system is designed to lift the full dead and life
weight of the floating island, allowing for easy adjustment of main deck
level to suit the estimated height of the seasonal waves.

D. Anchors and Moors:

At the front end of the structure anchor/s can be installed. They shall
be fixed directly to the steel structure. The anchorage loads shall be
incorporated with the design loads of the steel structures. The moors can be
fixed at the four sides of the structure. A peripheral steel defender shall be
constructed with proper rooting in the steel structure. Moors shall be attached
to this defender.

F. Conclusion:
The structural problems of the Dhow_4 Floating Island, being defined
as calculated forces applied in defined directions and modeled into the steel
structure to comply with the accepted rules and formulas of the analysis of a
structure; this leaves the optimal design of a Dhow-4 floating island to be a
subject of mathematical calculations.

Dr. Abdullah Daou

May 2005