Numerical simulation of multi-body floating piers to investigate pontoon stability

Abstract

The objective of this study is to develop a procedure to analyze the motions of a floating pier comprised of several pontoons that are modeled as rigid bodies and connected to each other by flexible and rigid connectors. Recently, the use offloating piers has increased because of their advantages, such as faster and higher-quality construction, seismic force isolation for a full-scale mooring system, low dependence on local soil conditions and tides, ability to relocate or reconfigure the pier modules during the operation period and 75-100 years of repair-free service. A floating pier consists of a pier, access bridge, mooring system and fender system, each of which comes in many variations to suit different usages and construction considerations. The typical loads used in the design of these piers are dead loads, live loads, mooring loads, fender loads and environmental loads induced by wind, currents and waves. For numerical simulation, three types of piers are used: passenger piers, light-cargo piers and semi-heavy-cargo piers. The selected piers consist of several large pontoons joined by pivots and have a pile-based mooring system. These piers are modeled by SAP2000software as two-dimensional frames that are linked together. As the first step, each type of pier is subjected to loading, and its general behavior is assessed. According to this behavior, the major load combinations are described for the design of piers and analyzed to determine the behavior of the modules. Lastly, according to the analysis results and the safe use and stability considerations, such as the maximum draft and longitudinal gradient, the dimensions of each module in each pier type are presented.

Keywords

coastal structures / numerical simulation / floating pier / rigid pontoons / stability

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