Stability Analysis of a Semi –submersible Body in a Laminar and Turbulent Flow Environment

The design of semi-submersible bodies is mostly based their stability standards and requirements

which are obtain from quasi-static approaches. Some of these methods do not take into account

the prevalent fluid flow conditions and the resulting semi-submersible response. Several model

tests in recent years revealed that stability criteria of semi-submersibles are influenced by the

existence of laminar and turbulent flow condition. This work was set out to study the stability of

semi-submersible body in both laminar and turbulent flow conditions. The method used for this

stability study is a simple but effective experimental setup that comprises of a triangular semi-

submersible platform submerged in a variable water flow in a Perspex basin. The water flow

induced water wave effects on the pontoons which in turn influenced the stability of the body. This

work reviewed these effects from model tests and from numerical calculations concluding that this

should be used as an instructional tool for the stability study of semi-submersible bodies in higher

institutions especially at the undergraduate level.