Research Article

Advances in Structural Engineering

1–14
Structural control of the floating Ó The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1369433219898081

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Mostafa Shahrabi and Khosrow Bargi

Abstract
The growing maritime activities have led offshore engineers to the application of floating breakwaters to protect coastlines from ero-
sion and to provide a layer of support to ports in the case of strong wave actions. In these applications, minimizing the floating part
responses to wave-induced excitations as one of the most critical operational characteristics would be a key factor. In this article, the
structural responses of the floating breakwaters are studied through modeling and simulation. To mitigate the floating part wave-
induced vibrations, an attached tuned liquid column damper is integrated into the simulation. In the first stage, the numerical model of
the floating breakwater system containing the floating body and the mooring system is created. Then, by proposing an iterative cou-
pling procedure, the joint tuned liquid column damper-floating breakwater model is developed. Several rigorous study cases are
defined to evaluate the effect of tuned liquid column damper on controlling the floating body unwanted vibrations. In this application,
the Airy wave theory and the Joint North Sea Wave Observation Project wave spectrum are used for wave excitations. In order to
evaluate the effect of tuned liquid column damper on floating breakwaters, some design parameters like floating body motions and
mooring system-mobilized tensile stresses are evaluated. The simulations are conducted in both the time domain and the frequency
domain for cases with and without tuned liquid column damper. The rain flow counting method is applied to perform the mooring sys-
tem fatigue analysis. The study results clearly proved that implementation of tuned liquid column damper would mitigate the floating
body responses compared to the original floating breakwater system. In addition, it is indicated that the fatigue-induced failure risks in
tuned liquid column damper-floating breakwater mooring system is decreased that would reduce the procurement costs and increase
the operational safety of the floating breakwater system.

Keywords
fatigue analysis, floating breakwater, numerical simulation, offshore structure, performance improvement, tuned liquid column damper

Introduction are also arise from the uncontrolled vibrations in the

Floating breakwaters are remarkable alternative to the
conventional bottom-mounted ones to protect ports
from strong wave actions and to diminish the coastal
erosion. With respect to the considerable benefits like
independence from seabed soil conditions, construc-
tion cost efficiency, little visual impact on horizon, and
absence of negative environmental impacts, this break-
water is an appropriate solution for coastal areas with
soft seabed scenarios, deep water condition, intense
shoreline erosion, and special aesthetic considerations.
In spite of aforementioned advantages, floating
breakwater application is limited to coastal areas
where the wave height and period are up to 1.5 m and
4 s, respectively (Cox and Beach, 2006). This is mainly
caused by constraints related to the floating part signif-
icant motions which transmit waves to safe harbourage
area. Reducing the fatigue life, gradually damaging the
floating body, and leading to failure of mooring lines
floating breakwater system (Lee and Juang, 2012). Its
mooring system is more prone to damage under severe
environmental conditions, leading to drift away of
floating part that jeopardizes the surrounding environ-
ment and structures (Dai et al., 2018). Koo (2009)
properly demonstrated that restricting the floating
body motions improves floating breakwater hydrody-
namic performance as well as extending its scope of
application. Furthermore, reducing the system exces-
sive vibrations not only mitigates the effect of fatigue
School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran,
Tehran, Iran
Corresponding author:
Khosrow Bargi, School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering,
University of Tehran, Enghelab Square, Tehran 1417613131, Iran.
Email: kbargi@ut.ac.ir
2 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)
loadings but also increases the fatigue life of the struc-
tural elements.
It has been always a challenging interest to try to
reduce the floating breakwater wave-induced motions.
To this aim, many researchers have been carried out
with the approach of evaluating the utilization of dif-
ferent mooring types. Isaacson et al. (1998) and
Diamantoulaki et al. (2008) extensively investigated
the response of pile-restrained floating breakwaters.
Besides its benefits, there are notable structural con-
straints with regard to the construction and employ-
ment of this system. These limitations restrict the
floating breakwater application in coastal areas with
steep slope seabed and significant free surface level
fluctuations.
Structural engineers have been increasingly turning
to additional damping systems in order to protect
structures from the damaging effects of the environ-
ment. With such an approach, Xu and Shum (2002)
and Reiterer (2004) proved the effective damping
action of tuned liquid column damper (TLCD) in
structures subjected to the lateral and torsional load-
ings. Furthermore, several researchers comprehen-
sively studied the incorporation of damping devices
into the structure to mitigate its responses. Research
results by Colwell and Basu (2009), Lackner and
Rotea (2011), Jaksic et al. (2015), and Ha and Cheong
(2016) properly proved the application of control
devices commonly employed in civil structure effi-
ciency in reducing the wave-induced vibrations of off-
shore structures. Among various kinds of structural
control devices, TLCD may be favorable for applica-
tion in the offshore structures because of compatibility
with surrounding environment, high performance, and
cost efficiency. Colwell and Basu (2009), Dezvareh
et al. (2015), and Bargi et al. (2016) studied the TLCD
effects on the behavior of fixed offshore wind turbines.
The results completely indicated that when an offshore
wind turbine equipped with a TLCD, reduction of
peak response of the same system without TLCD may
be achieved. It was also observed that implementation
of a damper in an offshore wind turbine greatly
increases the fatigue life of the structural elements.
The effects of TLCD application on floating struc-
ture performance were investigated by Lee et al.
(2006), Roderick (2012), and Jaksic et al. (2015).
Results of numerical simulations and experimental
investigations concluded that even though the use of
TLCD has negligible effect on heave motions, surge
energy decreases when the TLCD is implemented in
the structure. Furthermore, the positive effect of
TLCD utilization on tensile stresses experienced by
mooring lines during the structure service life was suc-
cessfully indicated.
The differences among floating breakwaters and
other offshore structures are significantly evident
whether in the case of its external effective forces or
physical characteristics. Although several studies have
been carried out for the control of offshore structures,
little attention has been focused on the vibration con-
trol of floating breakwaters with an additional damp-
ing system. In this article, closed-form solutions and
numerical simulations are coupled in order to intro-
duce a viable methodology for eliminating the major
functional constraints of floating breakwater. By defin-
ing TLCD behavioral equations, its effective forces
and moments are derived. Applying a simple iterative
procedure, these parameters are coupled with the origi-
nal model of floating breakwater which is developed
by ANSYS AQWA software. As a result, the joint
tuned liquid column damper-floating breakwater
(TLCD-FB) model is implemented which includes
both system responses, TLCD as the substructure and
floating breakwater system as the main structure.
Finally, extensive case studies are performed in order
to investigate the influence of TLCD in floating break-
water responses and mooring system performances for
various wave conditions. The Airy wave theory as well
as the Joint North Sea Wave Observation Project
(JONSWAP) wave spectrum is used in order to excite
the floating breakwater in the simulations. Eventually,
the developed model is excited for cases with and with-
out the TLCD for comparison. It is shown that imple-
menting TLCD in floating breakwater mitigates the
dynamic responses, increases the system reliability, and
extends the service life of the mooring lines.
Subsequently, system safety can be better ensured for
the floating breakwater installed with TLCD subjected
to vibrations from wave excitations.
Description of joint TLCD-FB model
components
Damping device selection
Utilization of damping systems to improve the floating
breakwater performances is investigated for the first
time. Determination of damping device type has to be
performed by considering the main structure specifica-
tion and its surrounding condition. The active, semi-
active, and passive systems are three different types of
dampers. In the last 40 years, these systems have been
used to restrict seismic and wind-induced vibrations in
buildings and bridges.
Passive systems have multiple advantages like a lit-
tle requirement of the auxiliary equipment, personnel
or power operation and maintenance as well as the
low cost of installation. TLCD which was proposed by
Sakai et al. (1989) as one of the most efficient kinds of
Shahrabi and Bargi
Figure 1. Tuned liquid column damper.
passive damping systems is selected in this research as
a damping device (Figure 1). Excessive structural
motions are significantly suppressed due to the gravita-
tional restoring force and moment acting on the dis-
placed liquid in the TLCD horizontal and vertical
columns. Lee et al. (2006), Roderick (2012), Mousavi
et al. (2012), and Dezvareh et al. (2015) properly
proved the TLCD capability in mitigating the
responses of fixed or floating offshore platforms.
Compatibility with the main structure configuration
and surrounding environment enables the TLCD
installation and exploitation whether to an existing or
future floating breakwaters. The rigid symmetrically
designed piping system of the absorber is embedded in
the void space of the box-type pontoon to form a rigid
system with 3 degrees of freedom (Figure 2).
Floating breakwater system selection
Floating breakwater is made up of two main compo-
nents, floating body and mooring system. Applying
analytical, numerical, and experimental methods, vari-
ous forms of floating body like p shape, box type, and
cylindrical pontoons have been studied so far
(Gesraha, 2006; Loukogeorgaki et al., 2014; Ruol
et al., 2012). In general, TLCD proves more efficient
than the other types of dampers when adequate hori-
zontal space is available. In the design of joint TLCD-
FB system, provisions have to be made to accommo-
date the TLCD in order to facilitate the required hori-
zontal liquid length. By evaluating various shapes,
box-type pontoon is selected as the most compatible
kind to achieve research objectives (Figure 3). The
void volume inside this pontoon provides enough
space to accommodate the TLCD. The main advan-
tage of placing TLCD inside the box-type pontoon is
isolating it from the direct effect of the environmental
loadings.
3
Figure 2. Joint TLCD-FB model.
There are two types of arrangements to control the
floating breakwater motions, taut system and catenary
system. The dead load of the mooring lines stabilizes
the floating body in a catenary mooring system while
in a taut mooring system, the line elastic properties
keep the floating body in place. Damping medium-
and low-frequency oscillations are the main benefit of
taut system (Chakrabarti, 2006). The requirement for
angle of 30°–45° between taut mooring cables and the
seabed leads to the great footprint on floating body
surrounding the occupied area. This limitation makes
the use of the taut mooring inconvenient in floating
breakwaters. Catenary system is the common type of
mooring employed in shallow water conditions. In this
study, this system is selected as the mooring method.
Reducing the risk of failure as well as the lack of opera-
tional constraints of the taut method is among the
main advantages of the catenary system (Shahrabi and
Bargi, 2013; You and Wang, 2009).
Coupling procedure of FB and TLCD
The simulation procedure of a moored floating break-
water consists of two components: (a) numerical mod-
eling of the floating body and its corresponding
mooring lines and (b) the calculation of TLCD-
induced forces and moments on floating body. A sim-
plified iterative coupling procedure of the TLCD
responses with the floating breakwater displacements is
shown in Figure 4. In this procedure, geometry of a
typical floating breakwater, physical characteristics of
the TLCD, and the environmental conditions are used
as the simulation inputs. In the following section, two
components of analysis of the joint TLCD-FB are
described in order to carry out the time-domain analy-
sis. The simulations of the original floating breakwater
model are performed using the ANSYS Hydrodynamic
Diffraction Module (Figure 5). Closed-form solution is
4 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)
Figure 3. 2D model of floating breakwater system.
Figure 4. Iterative coupling procedure for creating TLCD-FB model.
Figure 5. Floating breakwater original model.
deployed to derive the behavioral equations of the
TLCD and its responses to the main structure motions.
Using the subroutine linkage feature of ANSYS,
derived equations are applied to the original model by
the presented coupling procedure.
Combined system forces governing
equations
The box-type floating breakwater that is anchored by
the catenary mooring is numerically modeled using
ANSYS software. Presented model governing equa-
tions are divided into two main categories. In the float-
ing breakwater, as the main structure, loadings result
from the hydrodynamic environmental forces of waves
and currents. Due to the TLCD placement in the void
space inside the floating pontoon, this substructure is
isolated from the direct influence of environmental
loadings. Displacements of the floating pontoon lead
to fluid movement inside the TLCD pipes which gener-
ates its resultant forces and moments at its contact
point with floating breakwater. Therefore, the effective
forces are classified into two active and reactive cate-
gories. The active forces are due to the external envi-
ronmental loading and the reactive ones which are
arising from the responses of the TLCD.
Shahrabi and Bargi 5

After deriving the TLCD governing equations as

presented in the following section, their corresponding
subroutine was written in the Fortran programming
language. Then, using the Microsoft Visual Studio and
formation of this subroutine dynamic link library
(DLL) file, the above-mentioned reactive forces were
combined with the original ANSYS model. Finally,
time history study analyses are carried out in order to
evaluate the TLCD-FB responses under the excitation
of regular and irregular waves.

Active forces on floating breakwater

The Pierson–Moskowitz (P-M) wave spectrum was
primarily proposed for a fully developed sea state with
an unlimited fetch area that is too restrictive condition.
After analyzing the data which were collected during Figure 6. The Persian Gulf geographical map.
the JONSWAP, Hasselmann et al. (1973) found that
the wave spectrum will never be fully developed. It
continues to develop through nonlinear, wave–wave the simulation. Furthermore, the hydrodynamic analy-
interaction even for very long times and distances. sis of the floating breakwater subjected to the regular
Multiplying the P-M spectrum with an extra factor led waves is also conducted in both the frequency and time
to improve the fit to their project measured data. The domain in order to calculate the dynamic responses of
JONSWAP spectrum peak is more pronounced in a the floating body as well as the tensile stress of moor-
storm for the same total energy as compared with P-M ing lines.
spectrum which shifts of the spectra highest. The linear potential flow theory is employed to cal-
Enhancing the peak of P-M spectrum by including the culate the hydrodynamic forces on the model. The total
g factor, the JONSWAP spectrum is given by wave force acting on the floating breakwater is given by
ANSYS V.17.2 (2016)
"  4 #  
ag2 f exp
ðffp Þ2 " #
SðfÞ = exp 1:25 g 2s2 fp 2
ð1Þ   X
6
ð2pÞ4 f5 fp Fj = FIj + FDj + FRjk xk ðj = 16Þ ð4Þ
j=1
where g is the peak enhancement factor, g is the accel-
where FIj is the incident wave force, FDj represents the
eration of gravity, and f represents the incident wave
diffracted wave force, and FRjk is the radiation force
frequency. The JONSWAP project wave data were
induced by the kth unit amplitude motions of the float-
used to derive the values of the constants as follows
ing body which are calculated by integrating the pres-
 sure p(1) over the wetted surface of body s0 as follows
0:07 for f\fp
s= ð2Þ
0:09 for f ø fp
∂jð~x, tÞ
pð1Þ = r = ivrjð~ xÞeivt ð5Þ
where fp is the peak wave frequency. Ochi (1993) fitted ∂t
the JONSWAP spectral form to the hurricane data and ð 
represented JONSWAP parameter a as follows FIj = ivr jI ð~ xÞnj ds ð6Þ
s0
ð 
a = 4:5Hs 2 fp 4 ð3Þ
FDj = ivr jD ð~
xÞnj ds ð7Þ
s0
where Hs is the significant wave height.
ð 
Based on the aforementioned fundamental assump-
tion of the JONSWAP spectrum, it was formulated for FRjk = ivr jRj ð~
xÞnj ds ð8Þ
s0
a developing sea state in a fetch-limited situation. This
case study is located at the northern shores of the where jI indicates the first-order incident wave poten-
Persian Gulf (see Figure 6). With respect to the Persian tial with unit wave amplitude, jD represents the corre-
Gulf specification that is a large semi-enclosed gulf sponding diffracted wave potential, and jRj is the
located at the northwest end of the Indian Ocean, the radiated wave potential due to the jth motion of the
JONSWAP wave spectrum is utilized in this study for floating body with unit motion amplitude.
6 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

Reactive forces due to the TLCD by two perpendicular forces and a moment. These
As illustrated in Figure 1, the TLCD is composed of a effective parameters are applied at TLCD imaginary
U-shaped pipe which is partially filled with the fluid. reference point. Inertia of fluid motion inside the hori-
zontal and vertical columns of the damping device is
The liquid mass is supposed to be mf . Fluid relative
the genesis for the TLCD responses. Applying the
motion described by the displacement of its interface
momentum conservation principle and shifting the
to the atmosphere which is equivalent to the change in
point of application from TLCD reference point to the
elevation of the liquid columns, U(t). TLCD design
floating body center of gravity, resultant forces and
parameters are shown in Figures 1 and 2. Applying
moment are determined as follows
modified Bernoulli equation along the incompressible


L 2
 1  2  
Fy0 = mf ay0  €  uq_ +
u h + u2 q € + 4uu_ q_ ð15Þ
L1 L1


L €  1  2  2
Fz0 = mf az0  uq + 2u_ q_ + h + u2 q_  2(u_ 2 + u€ u ð16Þ
L1 L1
 
1  _
 2 2

€
2h  2 € _

 2€
MAx = mf ay0 d + u  4uu_ qd + h + u ay0 + gq  dq +
Lh€ u q + 2uu_ q + kh q ð17Þ
L1 L1

flow streamline, Reiterer and Ziegler (2006) derived Following geometrical coefficient is used in equa-
the equation of fluid motion inside the TLCD tions (15) to (17)


az 0 n_ 2  3
€ _ _ 2 2
U + dL U U + vA 1  k1
Hv2A
 k2 2
vA  = 2h 1 + 3L + Ah L
k ð18Þ
ð9Þ 3L1 4h2 Av 8h3
 B€
U = k ay0  gq  k1 q
2
where dL is the head loss coefficient and vA is the Fatigue analysis
undamped circular natural frequency of the TLCD. In Fatigue is a long-term degradation of progressive dam-
equation (9), k, k1 , and k2 are geometrical coefficients age which occurs when a material subjected to cyclic
that are defined in equations (10) to (13) loadings. This phenomenon is the main reason of brit-
2h tle failure in the ductile material like mooring chains.
k1 = ð10Þ When a chain exposed to fatigue, the stresses in the
Leff
chain links change. The failure is due to propagation
L + 2h of cracks and huge stresses in surrounding material
k2 = ð11Þ
Leff which will experience brittle failure (Bjornsen, 2014).
L Offshore structural components are subjected to cyclic
k= ð12Þ loadings by waves or winds during their service life.
Leff
Based on DNVGL-OS-E301 classification, mooring
Av system for floating breakwaters that is positioned for
Leff = 2h + L ð13Þ
Ah 5 years or more is specified as the long-term mooring.
DNVGL-OS-E301 recommends that these systems
where h is length of the liquid column in the vertical
shall be analyzed by the fatigue limit state (FLS).
pipe section at rest, L is the horizontal length of the
To this purpose, the Palmgren–Miner law is applied
liquid column, Av is the vertical cross-sectional area of
for the fatigue evaluation in this article. DNVGL-OS-
the liquid column, and Ah is the horizontal cross-
E301 recommends the S-N curves for calculating the
sectional area of the liquid column. By defining
€ as the absolute translational and rota- fatigue life of the mooring system based on the
n, v
€ € , and q,
assumption of linear cumulative damage. The fatigue
tional accelerations of main structure center of gravity,
curve (S-N chart) that is applied is given by
TLCD absolute accelerations at its reference point
A(y0 , z0 ) are derived by
logðNt Þ = logðaÞ  m logðDsÞ ð19Þ
 
! n!
aA = € €!
ey + v ez  dA q€ !
ey0 + q_ !
2
ez0 ð14Þ where Nt is the allowed cycles of the stress range
Ds(MPa), a represents the intercept of design S-N
By considering normal incident waves, TLCD curve with log (Nt ) axis, and m is the negative inverse
responses to the floating breakwater motions represent slope of the S-N curve. The design S-N curves for
Shahrabi and Bargi 7

Table 1. FB model specification–case study.

Lf B H d Total mass (kg)

20 6 4 20 49,200

FB: floating breakwater.

Table 2. TLCD model specification–case study.

Av Ah L h Leff dA gf (kg=m3 )

0.03 0.03 5 3 11 2.5 1030

TLCD: tuned liquid column damper.

Figure 7. Design S-N curves for mooring (DNVGL-OS-E301,

2015). Table 3. Incident wave characteristics.

Case study Hs (m) T (s) Wave direction

chain are shown in Figure 7. The characteristic degree
of the fatigue damage is derived by
X ni
D= ð20Þ
Nti
where D is the accumulated degree of the fatigue dam-
age, ni is the number of stress cycles in the ith stress
block, and Nti represents the number of cycles to a fail-
ure at the constant stress range Dsi . Then, the fatigue
life is given by
1 4 m, respectively. The characteristics of the modeled
Fatigue Life = ð21Þ
D
Rain-flow counting method is applied to determine
the number of tension cycles and expected values of
the tension range from the mooring system mobilized
tension time history. Even though this technique is rel-
atively time-consuming analysis, it provides the most
accurate estimate for fatigue damage.
Numerical examples of structural
responses
In this article, the floating breakwater model and the
presented iterative coupling procedure are utilized to
carry out extensive parametric case studies in order to
evaluate and compare the floating breakwater
responses with and without TLCD. First, a floating
breakwater original model is compared with the results
of credible reference papers. Then, the floating break-
water model with and without TLCD is excited by
wave loading. Regular waves are used for conducting
numerical simulations. The two-dimensional (2D)
structural model of under consideration floating
breakwater with its corresponding damping device
TLCD is shown in Figure 2. Seven identical TLCDs
Moderate sea state 2.36 5.53 Normal
Strong sea state 2.44 5.61 Normal
are assumed to be uniformly distributed in the floating
breakwater longitudinal axis. The water depth is con-
sidered to be 20 m and the seabed is supposed to be
horizontal. As presented in Table 1, length, beam, and
height of the floating breakwater model are 20, 6, and
TLCD are defined in Table 2.
The input monochromatic linear wave data for the
study are based on the Moeini et al. (2010) simula-
tions. The third-generation spectral simulating waves
nearshore (SWAN) model at the northern coast of the
Persian Gulf was used in their studies. The wind
sources of the simulations consisted of recorded data
at the nearest metrological station to the wave mea-
surement location called the Dayyer port (Figure 6)
and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather
Forecasts (ECMWF) data. In order to meet the design
requirements, two types of sea states are used for the
simulations, the moderate sea condition and the strong
sea condition. Based on the Moeini et al. (2010) simu-
lations, significant wave heights corresponding to the
moderate and strong sea conditions are considered as
2.36 and 2.44 m, respectively.
The specifications of normal incident waves are
shown in Table 3. Based on joint probability analysis,
the mean wave period (Tmean ) for the significant wave
heights (Hs ) of these two sea states was obtained by
Neelamani et al. (2007) at the Persian Gulf
Tmean = 4:3368ðHs Þ0:2844 ð22Þ
8 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)
Table 4. Mooring system specification-case study.
Mooring line 1
Connection point (8.5, 1.5, –2.4)
Fixed point (26.6, 19.6, –20)
Mooring length 31.5
Mass per unit length 150
Maximum tension (kN) 7500
Table 5. FB model specification–verification.
Lf B H Mooring line lift-off length, L1
0.78 0.4 0.1 4.7
FB: floating breakwater.
Figures 9(a) to (c) and 11(a) to (c) represent the
time-domain results of the TLCD effect on the floating
breakwater dynamic responses. Peak mobilized tension
in the mooring system and the maximum uplift force
on anchors are two of the main design criteria of the
floating breakwater (Table 4). In order to compare the
influence of TLCD on these two important parameters,
Figures 13 and 14 represent the results of their varia-
tions in frequency domain.
Validation of developed model with experimental
and numerical results
In order to evaluate the accuracy and validity of the
floating breakwater original model, it is compared
with the results of Sannasiraj et al. (1998) and
Loukogeorgaki and Angelides (2005). A model of
floating breakwater moored with four identical moor-
ing lines is created for verification (Table 5).
Figure 8(a) to (c) represents the comparison of the
computed response amplitude operator (RAOj ) values
as a function of the normalized wave frequency with
reference models. The 2D model could undergo small
oscillations in 3 degrees of freedom (j = 2, 3, 4), corre-
sponding to surge, heave and roll as defined in Figure
3. As for the validation, it should be noted the physical
model conditions like accuracy of measurement tools
and the finite dimensions of wave flume which may
cause undesirable floating body fluctuations.
A good agreement is obtained between the results
of the present model, and the experimental results and
numerical simulations. The computed values of surge
responses correspond to the reference experimental
and numerical results, as shown in Figure 8(a). Roll
resonance is the main reason for increasing surge
Mooring line 2 Mooring line 2 Mooring line 2
(8.5, –1.5, –2.4) (–8.5, 1.5,– 2.4) (–8.5, –1.5, –2.4)
(26.6, –19.6, –20) (–26.6, 19.6, –20) (–26.6, 19.6, –20)
31.5 31.5 31.5
150 150 150
7500 7500 7500
d Dr Wave frequency range, f
2.35 0.05 0.3–1.5 Hz
response values at v2 B=2g ffi 0:4 that returns to the
strong coupling of surge and roll responses
(Figure 8(b)).
For the case of heave response (Figure 8(c)), the
results of present numerical model are in a very good
agreement with the corresponding experimental ones.
Computed values are closer to the experimental results
than the other two numerical models. As for
v2 B=2g.0:8, the present model has a good agreement
with other numerical simulations and is greater than
experimental results. Similarly, the roll responses of
this model (Figure 8(b)) are closer to the results
obtained from experiments and numerical simulations.
Although the present model resonance response value
is a bit greater, it occurs at the same frequency with
experimental tests.
Effect of TLCD on floating body responses
The dynamic response of the floating breakwater with
and without TLCD subjected to the moderate sea con-
ditions is presented in Figure 9(a) to (c). According to
the derived values, influence of the TLCD on mitigat-
ing the floating breakwater dynamic responses is evi-
dent. As for the surge motion, the reduction in mean
response amplitude is up to 13% while the reduction
in the peak amplitude can be up to 16%. In the case of
the heave motion as shown in Figure 9(c), even though
the peak response is reduced by almost 7.5%, the aver-
age of the responses does not significantly change. The
response reduction effect is better in roll motion. As
illustrated in Figures 9(b) and 10, the reduction ratio
for both the mean and peak responses is about 14%.
By considering the floating breakwater specifica-
tions, DNVGL-RP-C205 (2017) recommends the 100-
year return period wave as the design wave. For this
Shahrabi and Bargi 9

(a)
(a)

(b)

(b)

(c)
Figure 8. Comparison of computed RAO as a function of
v2 B=2g: (a) surge response, (b) roll response, and (c) heave
response.

applied wave that is the same as the predefined strong (c)

sea state, Figure 11(a) to (c) shows the floating break- Figure 9. Floating breakwater time history response for
water responses in time history. As it is demonstrated, moderate sea state with and without TLCD: (a) surge
surge and roll responses are mitigated more than heave response, (b) roll response, and (c) heave response.
degrees of freedom. However, TLCD effectiveness in
10 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

(a)

Figure 10. Percentage of response variations for moderate

sea state.

reducing the peak value of heave motion is consider-

able. Again, for surge motion as indicated in Figure 12,
the reduction of both mean and peak responses is
about 22%. Almost the same reduction of roll motion
is observed for both of the mean and peak responses.

Effect of TLCD on the mooring system

Failure of the mooring lines causes the floating struc-
ture to lose its station and consequently makes severe
damages to its surrounding environment and struc-
tures. Therefore, one of the main design criteria of the (b)
floating breakwater mainly depends upon require-
ments regarding the avoidance of failure of mooring
lines as well as the avoidance of intense tensile in the
mooring lines. Figure 13 shows the variations in rela-
tion of mooring tensions to the dimensionless para-
meter B=L at the frequency domain (0:05 ł B=L ł 1).
The results illustrate that implementing TLCD in the
floating breakwater leads to reduction in tensile stress
of mooring lines. This beneficial effect may extend the
service life of mooring system material in comparison
with the case of floating breakwater without TLCD.
This approach can also be inferred to the maximum
anchor uplift force that its variations relation to B=L
are shown in Figure 14. Based on the results, it is clear
that equipping the floating breakwater with TLCD is a
practical and cost-effective alternative for the procure-
ment of the mooring lines and its accessories. (c)
Figure 11. Floating breakwater time history response for
Calculation of fatigue life strong sea state with and without TLCD: (a) surge response,
(b) roll response, and (c) heave response.
The fatigue-induced failure in the floating breakwater
is confined in the mooring system specifications. The
Shahrabi and Bargi 11

Figure 12. Percentage of response variations for strong sea

state.

Figure 14. Variation of mobilized anchor uplift force as a

function of B/L.

Table 6. JONSWAP wave characteristics.

Case number Hs (m) TP (s) ö

Case 1 0.53 2.91 0.0176

Case 2 0.72 3.39 0.0177
Case 3 0.86 3.71 0.0176
Case 4 0.97 3.93 0.0177
Case 5 1.24 4.45 0.0176
Case 6 1.45 4.82 0.0175
Case 7 1.74 5.28 0.0175
Case 8 1.97 5.61 0.0176
Case 9 2.17 5.89 0.0176
Case 10 2.35 6.13 0.0176
Case 11 2.67 6.53 0.0177
Case 12 2.94 6.85 0.0177

JONSWAP: Joint North Sea Wave Observation Project.

DNVGL-OS-E301 purposes that the long-term envi-

Figure 13. Variation of peak mobilized tension as a function of
B/L.
effect of TLCD on fatigue life of the floating break-
water mooring is presented at this section. The rain
flow counting method is used for calculating the fati-
gue damage rate as well as the fatigue life. The cumula-
tive fatigue damage rate and fatigue life are calculated
based on the design S-N curve. The fundamental S-N
fatigue curve parameters of the mooring system a and
m are considered equal to 1:2 3 1011 and 3, respec-
tively, for stud chain case.
Since offshore structures are subjected to a number
of different loading conditions and stress ranges,
ronment can be represented by a number of discrete
conditions. Each condition consists of a reference
direction and a reference sea state characterized by sig-
nificant wave height, a peak period, and the probabil-
ity of occurrence. DNVGL-OS-E301 recommends that
the required number of reference sea states should be
at least 10 cases. In order to meet the standard require-
ments, 12 cases of wave spectra with the same prob-
ability of occurrence are used in the analyses. Utilizing
equations (1) to (3), the JONSWAP spectrum para-
meters are calculated. The irregular wave characteris-
tics Hs and Tp are presented in Table 6. Figure 15
illustrates the variations of spectral densities of
JONSWAP waves for cases 1 to 12.
12
Figure 15. Spectral density of JONSWAP wave cases.
Table 7. Degree of fatigue damage for breakwater with and
without TLCD.
Case Cumulative fatigue Fatigue life
damage rate (year) (year)
Floating breakwater 0.0147 67
without TLCD
Floating breakwater 0.0101 99
with TLCD
TLCD: tuned liquid column damper.
Table 7 presents the cumulative fatigue damage rate
and the fatigue life obtained by the rain flow counting
calculation method (Figure 16). Based on the calcu-
lated fatigue life, the results clearly proved the exten-
sion of a TLCD-FB mooring system life span in
comparison to the simple floating breakwater.
Although the fatigue life of the simple floating break-
water mooring system is almost 67 years, TLCD-FB
mooring system fatigue life is 99 years that shows an
increase of nearly 47%. Since the other effective para-
meters were not changed in the simulations,
this increase is due to the presence of the TLCD.
Extending the mooring system fatigue life has some
beneficial effects like reducing the risk of fatigue-
induced failures, prolonging the service life, reducing
the procurement costs, as well as increasing the opera-
tional safety.
Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)
Figure 16. Accumulated degree of fatigue damage using RFC
method.
Conclusion
In this application, detailed analytical and numerical
studies on the effectiveness of using TLCD for mitigat-
ing the floating breakwater responses and mooring
system tension forces were conducted. The numerical
model of the floating breakwater as the main structure
was developed in ANSYS. The TLCD governing equa-
tions were derived and the joint TLCD-FB system was
developed using an iterative coupling procedure.
In the application, the Airy wave theory and the
JONSWAP wave spectrum were used for wave excita-
tions. The fatigue life of the mooring lines was calcu-
lated by employing the Palmgren–Miner law and the
rain-flow counting method. It was found that applying
a floating breakwater equipped with a series of identi-
cal TLCDs would reduce the response peak of the sys-
tem compared to a case without TLCD. Accordingly,
it was shown that influences of the TLCD on the
response mitigation of the roll and surge motions were
quite significant. However, its effectiveness in reducing
the peak value of the heave response was considerable.
It was also observed that the implementation of the
TLCD would increase the fatigue life of the mooring
Shahrabi and Bargi
system greatly. This would ensure the system opera-
tional safety with the floating breakwater installed and
equipped with TLCD. Furthermore, the results were
demonstrated that implementation of a damping sys-
tem in the floating breakwater decreases the mobilized
tensile stress at the mooring system and the anchor
uplift forces. This may lead to the construction of float-
ing breakwater system with less steelwork and lower
foundation expenses. It is concluded that the TLCD is
more efficient and practical alternative for replacing
the traditional methods such as piles for broadening
the floating breakwater range of application.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iD
Mostafa Shahrabi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8782-3840
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