The Effect of Connector Loads on The Multi-Directional Configuration of a Hexagonal Modular Floating Structure

Abstract

A hexagonal modular floating structure (HMFS) system is preliminarily designed in a linear configuration which creates network of connectors. The load of the connectors should be able to address issues related to the layout of the connector network and sustain the forces caused by wave motion. This paper presents the development of the HMFS connector network and the estimation of the connectors horizontal load due to the linear direction configurations. The design concepts of linear arrangement for HMFS configurations are proposed where analysis was carried out for regular wave in various directions of 0°, 30°, 45°,60°, 85° and 90°. The effect of these various wave directions and the HMFS configurations on the connector load is analysed accordingly. The analysis disclosed that the connector load in 0° is generally higher than the load in other wave directions for hexagonal modular floating structure.