Dynamic responses of a flexible floating anti-collision system under random waves

Abstract

The present experimental study investigated a flexible floating anti-collision system consisting of block chains, buoys, mooring chains, and gravity anchors. The motions of the central buoy and tensions of the block and mooring chains were measured under random waves with normal incidence. The results showed that both the motion and tension amplitudes increased with the incident significant wave height, but the increment decreased due to the effect of the nonlinear mooring chains. The edge mooring chain and block chain appeared to dominate the characteristics of the multi-frequencies, which can mainly be attributed to the sway motion of the buoys as well as the relative movements of the coupled buoys. The surge motion was found to contribute to the tension responses on the edge mooring chain due to the oscillation of the system in the axial direction.