Analysis of wind load effect on key components in a jack-up offshore platform

In the complex Ocean environment, wind load is the most important factor that should be addressed in the design of jack-up platforms. Although many efforts have been made to analyze the dynamics of jack-up platforms considering wind load effect, literature review shows that very limited work has been done to address the calculation of the wind load coefficient of each individual key component in a platform. Moreover, the influence of different wind speeds and directions under different working conditions of the platforms is not discussed clearly. To this avail, this paper investigates the wind load effect on the key components in a 400 ft jack-up offshore platform under three design conditions through normative calculation, numerical simulation and wind tunnel test. The wind force and torque of each key component (such as the crane, pile leg, and main hull) were obtained to calculate its wind load coefficient. The change rule of the wind load coefficient with different wind speeds and directions was discussed. The calculation results of the numerical simulation agreed well with these of the wind tunnel test, while the normative calculation results did not. The findings of this study may provide a basis for optimal design of jack-up offshore platforms.