ISOPE-2007 -jsc-414 Liu 1

The Exact Solutions of Tower-Yoke Mooring Systems

Yonghui (Allen) Liu
SOFEC, Inc.
14741 Yorktown Plaza Dr., Houston, TX 77040, USA







ABSTRACT

Tower-yoke mooring system, which consists of a tower fixed at the
seabed and a mooring yoke assembly connecting a platform with the
tower and utilizes pendant linkages to hang a heavy weight from top of
the vessel, has been utilized for station-keeping applications in extreme
shallow water. This paper will derive the exact solutions of the tower-
yoke mooring systems. The motions of the tower-yoke mooring system
is described based on the three rotational movements of the pendants
and yoke. The exact relations between those rotational motions and the
vessel motions are derived. The theoretical solutions of the restoring
force characteristics of the tower-yoke mooring system can then be
calculated. The model tests have been carried-out for the tower-yoke
mooring systems. The excellent agreement between the analytical
solutions and the measurements has validated and verified the
methodology proposed in the paper.

KEY WORDS: Tower yoke mooring system; mooring system;
restoring force; station-keeping; shallow water; exact solutions.


INTRODUCTION

In extreme shallow water, the conventional catenary mooring systems
are very difficult to hold vessels on position since the water depth
limits the effectiveness of the restoring forces generated by the weights
of the mooring components. The very shallow water will also induce
significant non-linearity to the cateneary mooring system.

Tower-yoke mooring system, which consists of a tower fixed at the
seabed and a mooring yoke assembly connecting the platform with the
tower and utilizes a heavy weight hanging from the top of the vessel,
has been utilized for the vessel station-keeping applications in shallow
water. The mooring yoke assembly attaches the platform to the
turntable on the tower and allows the yoke and platform to weathervane
around the tower while allowing transfer of the oil and gas from/to the
vessels and electric power to the tower. The yoke contains a two-axis
joint that allows the vessel to roll and pitch relative to the tower and
heavy ballast to provide restoring forces to moor the vessel. The
vessels are attached to the yoke with two pendant linkages, which have
one double-axis joint on upper end (upper U-joint) and one triple-axis
joint on lower end (lower U-Joint). The pendants hang over the vessel
bow or stern and are attached to the vessel mooring support structure.

The tower yoke mooring systems have been designed to keep the 165,000
DWT new built FPSO vessel secured at CNOOC QHD 32-6 site in the
extreme shallow water of 20 meters in Bohai Bay of China, and the
357,000 DWT converted FSO vessel moored on the ESSO Chad site in
35 meters water offshore West Africa. The QHD 32-6 FPSO and ESSO
Chad FSO with the tower yoke mooring systems are illustrated in Figs. 1
and 2.





















Fig. 1 Tower-yoke mooring system for CNOOC QHD 32-6 FPSO

However, the complexity of the tower-yoke mooring system make the
analysis extreme difficult. Special finite element methods have been
utilized to analyze the mooring systems. This paper will derive the
exact solutions of the tower-yoke mooring systems. The motions of the
tower-yoke mooring system is described based on the three rotational
movements of the pendants and yoke. The exact relations between
those rotational motions and the vessel motions are derived. The
ISOPE-2007 -jsc-414 Liu 2
theoretical solutions of the restoring force characteristics of the tower-
yoke mooring system can then be calculated. The model tests have
been carried-out on the tower-yoke mooring systems. The excellent
agreement between the analytical solutions and the measurements has
validated and verified the methodology proposed in the paper.



Fig. 2 Tower-yoke mooring system for ESSO Chad FSO

TOWER YOKE MOORING SYSTEM

The general arrangement of a tower yoke mooring system with a
floating LNG receiving platform is shown in Fig. 3a, Liu et al, 2006. A
plan view and a elevation view of a typical tower yoke mooring system
with a vessel are shown in the Figs. 3b and 3c.

The yoke head contains a two-axis joint that allows the vessel to roll and
pitch relative to the tower and is attached to the turntable on the tower
allowing the yoke and vessel to weathervane around the tower. A heavy
liquid ballast on the yoke is utilized to provide restoring forces to moor
the vessel. With the vessel drifting away from the equilibrium position,
the potential energy of the heavy ballast will pull the vessel back to the
origin. The vessels are attached to the yoke with two pendant linkages,
which have one double-axis joint on upper end (upper U-joint) and one
triple-axis joint on lower end (lower U-Joint). The height from the seabed
to the yoke attachment at the turntable on the tower is defined as h,
whereas the height from the seabed to upper U-Joint at the vessel
mooring support structure is denotes as H. The length from the yoke
pivot point at the tower attachment to the lower U-Joints of the pendant
linkages on the yoke is defined as the yoke length L and the pendant
length is l. The ballast tank of the yoke hung under the lower U-Joints is
filled with liquid or other weights to provide the restoring forces for the
station-keeping. Based on the detail design of the yoke and the total
weight of the yoke structure and ballast, the equivalent weight W
underneath the lower U-Joints can be estimated. The breadth between the
pendant linkages is defined as b. All the dimensions are illustrated in Fig.
4.

COORDINATE SYSTEMS

For analysis, the global Cartesian coordinate oxyz with the oxy-pane
parallel to the quiescent free surface and z positive upward is utilized.
Its origin is set at the yoke pivot attachment point to the turntable. The
vessel fixed coordinates are denotes by O
v
X
v
Y
v
Z
v
. The third coordinate
system oxyz is fixed on the yoke and rotated with the yoke. The tower
yoke coordinate systems are shown in Fig. 4.












Fig. 3a General arrangement of tower yoke mooring system for LNG
receiving platform in shallow water





Fig. 3b Plan view of tower yoke system general arrangement







Fig. 3c Elevation of tower yoke system general arrangement
ISOPE-2007 -jsc-414 Liu 3



Fig. 4 Coordinate systems


ANALYSIS OF TOWER YOKE MOORING SYSTEM

For the station-keeping analysis of the tower yoke mooring system, we
have to derive the mooring system restoring forces and motion behavior
with the tower, yoke, ballast and pendants. Physical tower yoke
characteristics, including geometric dimensions, ballast weight and
hydrodynamic properties of each element, shall be specified.

First, it is assumed that the yoke is rotated about the pivot point at the
attachment point to the turntable and the small distance between the yoke
weathervaning axis, i.e. yow axis, and pitch/roll axis is ignored. The
weights of the pendant linkages are much smaller than the weight of the
ballast and are negligible. The yoke and pendant linkages are assumed
to be the un-stretchable rigid bodies

We consider the yoke will rotate about its pivot point o by the
following sequence: rotation about its z-axis, , rotation about it y-axis,
, and rotation about its x-axis, . Thus, the positions of the lower U-
Joints in the oxyz coordinates can be described as:

) 1 (
sin
2
cos
cos cos
2
sin cos
sin cos
2
cos cos
,
,
,

=
=
=



b
L z
b
L y
b
L x
p s
p s
p s
m


where, the superscriptions of p and s denote the components on port
and starboard side of the vessel. The positions of the upper U-joint can
be described by the vessel motions, such as (x
v
,y
v
,z
v
). Thus the pendant
angles in the oxyz coordinates are expressed as:

) 2 (
/ ) ( cos
/ ) ( cos
/ ) ( cos

=
=
=
l z z
l y y
l x x
v z
v y
v x

Here, the superscriptions of p and s are ignored for simplicity.

The original yaw pitch angle in calm water is defined as:

) arcsin(
0
L
H h l +
=
The yoke and pendent angles as well as the pendant tensions are
illustrated in Figure 5. Taking moments at the yoke pivot point o
,
we
can derive the relations for the tensions and rotational angles in the
equations as below:

) 3 ( 0
2
) (
) cos cos ( ) cos cos (
=
+

+
s p
s
y
s s
z
s s p
y
p p
z
p p
y y
W
z y T z y T


) 4 ( 0
2
) (
) cos cos ( ) cos cos (
=
+
+
+
s p
s
z
s s
x
s s p
z
p p
x
p p
x x
W
x z T x z T


) 5 ( 0 ) cos cos (
) cos cos (
=
+
s
x
s s
y
s s
p
x
p p
y
p p
y x T
y x T




where W is the equivalent weight of the ballast and yoke structure.

With the assumption that the pendant linkages are the un-stretchable
rigid bodies, the following formulae can be derived:

2 2 2 2
) ( ) ( ) ( l z z y y x x
p p
v
p p
v
p p
v
= + +
(6)
2 2 2 2
) ( ) ( ) ( l z z y y x x
s s
v
s s
v
s s
v
= + +
(7)

where l is the length of the pendant linkages.

Therefore, the five unknowns, the yoke rotation angles , , , and
pendant tensions T
p
and T
s
, can be completely solved from the above
five Eqs., (3) through (7), with assistance of the Eqs. (1) and (2).
Once the exact yoke rotations and pendant tensions are determined, the
restoring forces and yaw moments on the vessel in the oxyz coordinates
can then be evaluated by the formulae below:
) 8 (
) cos cos (
2
cos cos
cos cos
cos cos

+ =
=
=
=
s
x
s p
x
p v
z
s
z
s p
z
p v
z
s
y
s p
y
p v
y
s
x
s p
x
p v
x
T T
b
M
T T F
T T F
T T F





o
x'
y'
z'
y
x
z

h
H
L
l
b
W
ISOPE-2007 -jsc-414 Liu 4
where ) , , (
v
z
v
y
v
x
F F F =
v
F are the longitudinal, transverse and
vertical force components on the vessel and
v
z
M is the yaw moment on
the vessel.

Fig. 5 Forces on yoke

The forces on the tower can be calculated by the following equations:

) 9 (
cos cos
cos cos
cos cos

+ =
+ =
+ =
W w T T F
T T F
T T F
s
z
s p
z
p t
z
s
y
s p
y
p t
y
s
x
s p
x
p t
x





where ) , , (
t
z
t
y
t
x
F F F =
t
F denote the corresponding force
components on the tower and w is the equivalent weight at the tower.


VALIFICATION AND VALIDATION WITH MODEL TESTS

Two model tests have been carried-out for tower-yoke mooring systems
in the extreme shallow water. The numerical results from the
aforementioned formulae were evaluated and compared with the model
test measurements in order to verify and validate the theoretical model
derived in the paper. The model test set-up is illustrated in Fig. 6.

The first example is the tower yoke mooring system applied to the
vessel in the extreme shallow water of 20 meters. The detail
dimensions of the tower yoke mooring system are listed in Table 1. The
vessel draft is 14.5 meters. Both surge and sway force deflection tests
have been conducted. The results are summarized in Figures 7 and 8
and compared with the numerical calculations based on the above
theory. Excellent agreement between the model test results and
numerical data can be observed.

The second tower yoke mooring system was designed to secure the
vessel in the water of 33 meters. The vessel draft is 22.8. The detail
dimensions of the tower yoke system are summarized in Table 1 as
well. As shown in Figures 9 and 10, the excellent agreement between
the calculated numerical results and the model test measured data are
evidently for both surge and sway force-deflection characteristics of the
mooring system.


Table 1. Principle particulars of tower yoke mooring systems






















Fig. 6 Model test of a tower yoke mooring system


CONCLUSIONS

This paper presented the analytical solutions of the tower yoke mooring
system for station keeping in very shallow water. The theoretical
solutions have been verified and validated through the comparisons
with the results of the model tests. The excellent agreement has verified
the theoretical methodologies proposed in the paper for solving the
tower yoke mooring system. The mathematical model proposed in the
paper has been successfully implemented in the design and analysis of
the several tower yoke mooring systems. This model can be easily
incorporated with time-domain and frequency-domain methods for
global performance analysis of a vessel station-keeping with a tower
yoke mooring system.


REFERENCES

Liu, Y. H., (2000), QHD 32-6 FPSO Project Model Test Report, Internal
Report.

Liu, Y.H. and Boatman T. L., Responses of a LNG Receiving Terminal
to Hurricane in Shallow Water, Proceedings of ISOPE, 2006, San
Francisco, USA.
o
x
y
z

L
W
T
s
T
p
F
x
F
y
F
z
Tower Yoke Mooring 1 2
Yoke Length L 35 40 (m)
Yoke Height h 40 60.3 (m)
Yoke Breadth b 28 28 (m)
Ballast Weight W 1172 1460 (MT)
Pendant Length l 15 18 (m)
Pendat Height H 45 65.7 (m)
ISOPE-2007 -jsc-414 Liu 5



Fig. 7a System surge force-deflection characteristics


Fig. 7b System surge motion characteristics


Fig. 8a System sway force-deflection characteristics

Fig. 8b System sway and port pendent tension characteristics
Fig. 8c Sway and starboard pendent tension characteristics
Fig. 8d Sway and yoke rotations characteristics

0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Surge Offset (m)
T
e
n
s
i
o
n

a
n
d

H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

F
o
r
c
e

(
M
T
)
-700
-600
-500
-400
-300
-200
-100
0
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

F
o
r
c
e

(
M
T
)
Cal. (Pendant Tens.)
Mea. (L.Pendant Tens.)
Mea. (R.Pendant Tens.)
Mea. (L.P.Fx)
Mea. (L.P.Fz)
Mea. (R.P.Fx)
Mea. (R.P.Fz)
Cal. (Pendant Fx)
Cal. (Pendant Fz)
-900
-800
-700
-600
-500
-400
-300
-200
-100
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sway Offset (m)
T
o
w
e
r

F
o
r
c
e

F
x

a
n
d

F
z

(
M
T
)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
T
o
w
e
r

F
o
r
c
e

F
y

(
M
T
)
Cal. (Tower Force: Fx)
Cal. (Tower Force: Fz)
Mea. (Tower Force: Fx)
Mea. (Tower Force: Fz)
Mea. (P+P: Fx)
Cal. (Tower Force: Fy)
Mea. (Tower Force: Fy)
Mea. (P+P: Fy)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sway Offset (m)
P
o
r
t

P
e
n
d
a
n
t

T
e
n
s
i
o
n

a
n
d

F
x


(
M
T
)
-700
-600
-500
-400
-300
-200
-100
0
P
o
r
t

P
e
n
d
a
n
t

F
y

a
n
d

F
z


(
M
T
)
Cal. (L.P.Tension)
Cal. (L.P.Fx)
Mea. (L.P.Tension)
Mea. (L.P.Fx)
Mea. (L.P.F--Tens.)
Cal. (L.P.Fy)
Mea. (L.P.Fy)
Mea. (L.P.Fz)
Cal. (L.P.Fz)
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sway Offset (m)
S
t
a
r
b
o
a
r
d

P
e
n
d
a
n
t

T
e
n
s
i
o
n

(
M
T
)
-900
-750
-600
-450
-300
-150
0
S
t
a
r
b
o
a
r
d

P
e
n
d
a
n
t

F
x
,

F
y

a
n
d

F
z


(
M
T
)
Cal. (R.P.Tension)
Mea. (R.P.Tension)
Cal. (R.P.Fx)
Cal. (R.P.Fy)
Mea. (R.P.Fx)
Mea. (R.P.Fy)
Mea. (R.P.Fz)
Cal. (R.P.Fz)
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sway Offset (m)
Y
o
k
e

A
n
g
l
e

(
d
e
g
)
Cal. (Yoke angle around x)
Cal. (Yoke angle around y)
Cal. (Yoke angle around z)
Mea. (Yoke angle around x)
Mea. (Yoke angle around y)
Mea. (Yoke angle around z)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Surge Offset (m)
A
n
g
l
e

(
d
e
g
)
Cal. (Yoke angle)
Cal. (Pendant angle)
Mea. (Yoke angle)
Mea. (L. Pendant Angle)
Mea. (R. Pendant Angle)
ISOPE-2007 -jsc-414 Liu 6
System surge force-deflection characeristics: FSO full loaded. (In water. Plotted 2001-12-6)
200.0
300.0
400.0
500.0
600.0
700.0
800.0
900.0
-12.0 -10.0 -8.0 -6.0 -4.0 -2.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0
Surge Offset (m)
T
e
n
s
i
o
n


(
M
T
)
-900
-700
-500
-300
-100
100
300
500
H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

a
n
d

V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

F
o
r
c
e

(
M
T
)
Cal. (Pendant Tens.)
Mea. (L.Pendant Tens.)
Mea. (R.Pendant Tens.)
Mea. (L.P.Fx)
Mea. (L.P.Fz)
Mea. (R.P.Fx)
Mea. (R.P.Fz)
Cal. (Pendant Fx)
Cal. (Pendant Fz)


Fig. 9a System surge force-deflection characteristics
System surge force-deflection characeristics: FSO full loaded. (In water. Plotted 2001-12-6)
-50.00
-40.00
-30.00
-20.00
-10.00
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
-12.0 -10.0 -8.0 -6.0 -4.0 -2.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0
Surge Offset (m)
A
n
g
l
e

(
d
e
g
)
Cal. (Yoke angle)
Cal. (Pendant angle)
Mea. (Yoke angle)
Mea. (Left pendant angle)
Mea. (Right pendant angle)


Fig. 9b System surge motion characteristics

System sway force-deflection characeristics: FSO full loaded. (In water. Plotted 2001-12-6)
-500.0
-400.0
-300.0
-200.0
-100.0
0.0
100.0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0
Sway Offset (m)
T
o
w
e
r

F
o
r
c
e

F
x

a
n
d

F
z

(
M
T
)
0.0
100.0
200.0
300.0
400.0
500.0
600.0
T
o
w
e
r

F
o
r
c
e

F
y

(
M
T
)
Cal. (Tower Force: Fx)
Cal. (Tower Force: Fz)
Mea. (Tower Force: Fx)
Mea. (Tower Force: Fz)
Cal. (Tower Force: Fy)
Mea. (Tower Force: Fy)


Fig. 10a System sway force-deflection characteristics

System sway force-deflection characeristics: FSO full loaded. (In water. Plotted 2001-12-6)
-100.0
0.0
100.0
200.0
300.0
400.0
500.0
600.0
700.0
800.0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0
Sway Offset (m)
P
o
r
t

P
e
n
d
a
n
t

T
e
n
s
i
o
n

a
n
d

F
x


(
M
T
)
-850.0
-750.0
-650.0
-550.0
-450.0
-350.0
-250.0
-150.0
-50.0
50.0
P
o
r
t

P
e
n
d
a
n
t

F
y

a
n
d

F
z


(
M
T
)
Cal. (L.P.Tension)
Cal. (L.P.Fx)
Mea. (L.P.Tension)
Mea. (L.P.Fx)
Mea. (L.P.F--Tens.)
Cal. (L.P.Fy)
Mea. (L.P.Fy)
Mea. (L.P.Fz)
Cal. (L.P.Fz)


Fig. 10b Sway and port pendent tension characteristics

Fig. 10c Sway and starboard pendent tension characteristics

System sway angle-deflection charactristics: FSO full loaded. (In water. Plotted 2001-12-6)
-30.00
-25.00
-20.00
-15.00
-10.00
-5.00
0.00
5.00
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0
Sway Offset (m)
Y
o
k
e

A
n
g
l
e

(
d
e
g
)
Cal. (Yoke angle around x)
Cal. (Yoke angle around y)
Cal. (Yoke angle around z)
Mea. (Yoke angle around x)
Mea. (Yoke angle around y)
Mea. (Yoke angle around z)


Fig. 10d Sway and yoke rotations characteristics


System sway force-deflection characeristics: FSO full loaded. (In water. Plotted 2001-12-6)
0.0
100.0
200.0
300.0
400.0
500.0
600.0
700.0
800.0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0
Sway Offset (m)
S
t
a
r
b
o
a
r
d

P
e
n
d
a
n
t

T
e
n
s
i
o
n

(
M
T
)
-800.0
-700.0
-600.0
-500.0
-400.0
-300.0
-200.0
-100.0
0.0
S
t
a
r
b
o
a
r
d

P
e
n
d
a
n
t

F
x
,

F
y

a
n
d

F
z


(
M
T
)
Cal. (R.P.Tension)
Mea. (R.P.Tension)
Cal. (R.P.Fx)
Cal. (R.P.Fy)
Mea. (R.P.Fx)
Mea. (R.P.Fy)
Mea. (R.P.Fz)
Cal. (R.P.Fz)