ELASTOMERIC FENDER SYSTEMS SUBJECT TO RANDOM EXCITATION
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abstract
The current design process for fender systems is based upon a deterministic approach whereas it would appear that for many practical situations the combined wind, wave and current conditions involve some level of random excitation and response behavior. A two-body system consisting of a mini-TLP and tender barge excited by random seas was selected for analysis. This laboratory experiment provided measurements of the normal component of force response between the two vessels needed to design a fender system and was measured in the experiments for both head sea and beam sea conditions. In the original design concept a fender system consisting of cylindrical fender elements was envisioned and this idea was used as the basis to consider the elastomeric elements discussed in this study. This study identifies the key problem variables that can be used to characterize this two-body system and it discusses the development of the appropriate dimensionless parameters needed to compactly present design curve information on deflection/compression and energy absorption of the fender elements. An illustrative example that compares deterministic and random excitation predictions based upon some assumed geometries is presented and discussed. This includes the characterization of fender force time series in terms of statistical moments and its underlying probability distribution. Using parameter estimation techniques, coefficients of a best-fit two-parameter model were determined and the resulting model was used in the illustrative example.
