KR20140002961A - Spud-can for floating structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A spud can for a floating type structure is disclosed. The spud can is combined to the bottom end of a leg of a floating type structure. The spud can comprises: a base part having curved side and inclined side which are repetitively formed; a middle part connected to the outline of the base part for forming a wall body; and an upper part connected to the middle part for finishing the inner space of the middle part.

Description

SPUD-CAN FOR FLOATING STRUCTURE OF FLOATING STRUCTURE

The present invention relates to a spud can attached to the lower portion of a leg of a floating structure.

As the demand for environmentally friendly energy development grows, the development using wind power generators is getting popular all over the world. However, installation of wind turbines requires strict environmental conditions. For example, the place where the wind turbine is installed should be a place where a certain level of wind speed can be guaranteed to obtain significant rotation of the blade, and the pollution caused by the noise generated when driving the wind turbine should not be an issue do. Even if the environmental conditions are satisfied, there is a problem that a very large area of space is required for installing the wind turbine generator.

In recent years, interest in offshore wind turbines has increased, which is relatively free from the above-mentioned constraints. Offshore wind turbines can be installed in a variety of ways, but generally they are constructed by dividing the components into several units, making them on land, and then transferring the units to sea for assembly.

A ship that moves offshore wind turbine units on the sea to the sea and installs offshore wind turbine generators is commonly referred to as a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV).

Wind turbine installation The ship can be operated in the transit mode and the jack-up mode due to the nature of the operation. Specifically, the ship installed with the wind turbine moves to the navigation mode to the position where the off-axis wind turbine is to be installed. In navigation mode, the legs may remain moved upward of the body to reduce resistance by seawater. After that, the ship installed with the wind power generator is switched to the jack-up mode, the leg is lowered on the bottom surface, and then the main body is lifted up along the leg so that the main body is separated from the sea surface by a certain distance. When the main body reaches a certain position, the wind turbine installation ship stops the movement of the main body and installs the offshore wind turbine generator. When the installation is completed, proceed in the reverse order to move to the next installation position.

The spud-can of the patent document is provided at the lower end of the leg, and the lower surface of the spud can is formed in a flat shape, and a triangular-pyramidal protrusion protruding downward at the center of the bottom is formed. Since the spud can has a bottom surface of a flat shape, the contact area is relatively small, so that the grounding force can not be sufficiently exhibited in the jack-up mode of the floating structure.

In this case, when the bottom plane of the spud can is widened to sufficiently exhibit the grounding force, that is, when the size of the spud can is made large, the space for loading the spud can in the lower part of the main body of the floating structure must be large. The resistance in the navigation mode of the structure can be increased.

In addition, when the size of the spud can is made small, the stability and the penetration into the seabed are lowered and the seabed can penetrate too deeply.

U.S. Patent Publication No. 8,011,857

The present embodiment provides a spud can that is combined with a keel zone and a concave zone, and a spud can that is coupled to the middle part and the dome-type top so that at the initial point of time when the spud can is first contacted with the seabed surface, And then by increasing the frictional force between the bottom surface of the seabed surface and the soil due to the feature of the bottom portion, it is possible to secure the grounding force of the spud can and the leg.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spud can coupled to a lower end of a leg of a floating structure, the spud can comprising: a base having a curved surface and an inclined surface formed repeatedly; An intermediate portion connected to a rim of the base portion to form a wall; And an upper portion connected to the intermediate portion and closing the space inside the intermediate portion, may be provided.

The bottom portion may include a bottom portion flatly formed at the center of the bottom bottom of the spud can, A concave section connected to the rim of the bottom section and arranged in plurality at a distance from each other; And a keel zone connected between the recessed zones and extending in the up-and-down direction at the rim of the bottom zone.

The concave section may include a curved section that is curved in a direction perpendicular to the upward and downward directions from a rim of the bottom section, And an upper plate section connected between an upper portion of the curved section and an edge of the base section.

The intermediate portion may be formed into a rectangular ring shape or an octagonal ring shape having a round corner.

In addition, the keel zone may include a sloped surface of a rectangular or oblique shape, connected between the rim of the middle portion and the bottom zone, and a keel sidewall surface that is bent at both sides of the slope and connected to the concave portion .

In addition, the base may further include an extension plate extending in an outer direction of the sped can at an upper plate section of the concave section.

The bottom zone may also include a cross or circular plate shape.

The base portion may further include a skirt portion protruding downward from a lower edge of the intermediate portion to which the keel section and the concave section are connected.

The embodiment of the present invention can cope with the load at the time of infiltration of the bottom of the sped can by the keel zone of the base.

The embodiment of the present invention can increase the frictional force by the concave portion of the base portion after the spud can is infiltrated to a certain depth to secure the leg force of the leg connected to the sprung can and the sprung can.

In the embodiment of the present invention, since the concave region is composed of the curved section and the upper plate section, the soil of the sea bed moving on the curved section to the outside of the sped can becomes in contact with the soil pressed by the upper plate section, As a result, stable grounding force can be generated at the lower portion of the sped can.

1 is a perspective view of a floating structure having a spud can according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a side view showing a jack-up state of the floating structure shown in Fig.
Fig. 3 is a front view of the sprue can shown in Fig. 2; Fig.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the middle part and bottom part of the spud can shown in Fig. 3, viewed from bottom to top; Fig.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the middle part and the base part of the spud can shown in Fig. 4 as viewed from top to bottom; Fig.
6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA shown in Fig. 4. Fig.
7 is a perspective view showing a middle portion and a base portion of a spud can of a floating structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
8 is a perspective view showing a middle portion and a base portion of a spud can of a floating structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the following description of the present invention, detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

1st Example

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a jacked-up state of a floating structure provided with a spud can of a floating structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, a floating structure 1 having a spud can 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main body 10 that can float in water, Legs 20 and legs 20 which are coupled to the spud can 100 at the lower end and the leg support 20 which provides the power necessary to relatively move the main body 10 in the vertical direction, (30).

The floating structure 1 may be a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) or a jack-up platform. In this embodiment, the floating structure 1 is a wind turbine installation vessel I'll explain it to you. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to this, and any floating structure having a jack-up mode to be described later may be included in the scope of the present invention.

The body 10 may have a flat structure of a floatable rectangular shape and may be formed in a structure having a wide width, a low height, and a short length as compared with a general commercial line (e.g., a container line). However, this is merely an example, and the body 10 according to the teachings of the present invention may have any three-dimensional structure in which the legs 20 and the leg supports 30 can be installed.

The main body 10 can be loaded with the load 2 according to the function of the floating structure 1. A blade, a nacelle, a tower, or the like, which is a part of an offshore wind power generator, can be loaded as the object 2 to be loaded on the main body 10 and the loading unit 2 for fixing the object 2 to the main body 10 (12) may be provided. The type and the manner of loading the object 2 are merely examples, and the object 2 to be loaded can be loaded in various forms within the scope of the present invention. For example, the blades and nacelle can be loaded separately from each other, and the load 2 can be a riser pipe if the floating structure 1 is a jack-up platform.

In addition, the main body 10 may be provided with a propulsion device (not shown) for movement and position control.

A plurality of legs 20 may be provided depending on the purpose of use of the floating structure 1. In the embodiment of the present invention, a total of four legs 20 are provided, one pair at each of the port and starboard sides of the main body 10 I will explain what is provided as an example.

The leg 20 is installed to penetrate the main body 10 in the vertical direction and a leg well through which the leg 20 passes is formed in the main body 10. The leg 20 can be moved downward of the main body 10 and fixed to the seabed B and formed to have a rigidity enough to withstand the load of the main body 10 in the jack- A square truss structure, a triangular truss structure, and the like. In the present embodiment, the legs 20 are formed in a triangular truss structure.

The leg support portion 30 is provided at a position corresponding to the leg well so that the leg 20 can pass therethrough and supports the leg 20 so that the leg 20 and the main body 10 can relatively move in the vertical direction . Specifically, the leg support portion 30 is provided with a driving device such as a motor, and the leg portion 20 is moved up and down with respect to the main body 10 by the operation of the driving device, In the vertical direction. For example, a jack case as a driving device can be disposed in the leg support portion 30, a pinion gear and a motor are installed in the jack case, a rack gear is formed in the leg 20, The relative movement of the leg 20 and the main body 10 in the vertical direction can be achieved.

The vertical movement of the leg 20 and the main body 10 in the present embodiment means that the leg 20 moves in the vertical direction with respect to the main body 10 and that the main body 10 moves in the vertical direction relative to the leg 20 It will be understood that the present invention includes both moving in the up and down direction.

On the other hand, the main body 10 may be provided with a crane 40 capable of installing the offshore wind power generator by transporting the loads 2 such as blades, nacelles, and towers.

The floating structure 1 having the above configuration can be operated in a transit mode and a jack-up mode.

The floating structure (1) moves to the navigation mode to the position where the offshore wind turbine is to be installed. In the general navigation mode, the floating structure 1 can move in a state in which the legs 20 are moved upward in order to reduce the resistance by the legs 20.

The floating structure 1 can be moved to the target position and then accurately positioned for lowering the leg 20 using dynamic positioning. The automatic position control can be continued until the leg 20 descends and touches the seabed B.

Thereafter, the floating structure 1 is switched to the jack-up mode to insert the legs 20 into the seabed B. Fig. In this process, the legs 20 can be moved downwardly of the main body 10 by the gravity and the driving device of the leg support 30.

When the spud can 100 installed at the lower end of the leg 20 touches the seabed B, the leg 20 can no longer move downward. In this state, the floating structure 1 actuates the driving device of the leg support 30 to move the main body 10 upward along the legs 20. The load of the main body 10 acts to force the leg 20 into the seabed B so that the leg 20 penetrates into the seabed B and is fixed.

The main body 10 may be spaced apart from the sea surface S by moving the main body 10 upward along the legs 20 so that the main body 10 is separated from the sea surface S, The state that is different from the set work position can be referred to as a jack-up state.

The floating structure 1 is installed in the jack-up state by using the crane 40, and when the installation work is completed, the operation can be started again in the reverse order of the above procedure.

The method of switching the floating structure 1 to the jack-up state is merely an example, and various changes can be made within the scope of the present invention.

The spud can 100 coupled to the lower end of each leg 20 easily induces penetration of the spud can 100 within a certain depth range when it penetrates into the sea bed B, It is possible to have a shape structural feature securing the grounding force of the leg 20.

The shape structural features and operation of these legs 20 can be explained with reference to Figs. 3 to 6. Fig.

3 is a front view of the spuddane shown in Fig.

Referring to FIG. 3, the spud can 100 may be coupled to the lower end of the legs.

For example, the leg may include a cord and a rack gear in a triangular truss structure, wherein the lower end of the cord is welded to the dome top 110 or intermediate portion 120 of the spade can 100 .

The spud can 100 includes a top 110, a middle 120, and a bottom 130 to form a hollow body.

The base portion 130 may have a curved surface and an inclined surface repeatedly formed.

Here, the curved surface may correspond to the concave section 140, and the inclined surface may correspond to the keel section 132. [

The keel zone 132 may be composed of at least two or more and the number of keel zone 132 may be appropriately determined within a range not excessively large.

The intermediate portion 120 may be connected to the rim of the base portion 130 to form a wall. The intermediate portion 120 may be a ring-shaped structure corresponding to the waist between the base portion 130 and the upper portion 110. For example, the intermediate portion 120 may be formed in a polygonal shape such as a rectangular or octagonal shape having a round corner, or may be formed in a circular shape.

The upper portion 110 may be a ceiling or a cover of the intermediate portion 120 and may be connected to the intermediate portion 120 to close a space inside the intermediate portion 120. The upper portion 110 may be made of a plate member having a conical shape or a dome shape. A plurality of reinforcing members (not shown) for reinforcing the plate member may be further coupled to the inside of the upper portion 110.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bottom portion and an intermediate portion of the spud can shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bottom portion and an intermediate portion of the spud can shown in FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A shown in Fig.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the base 130 and the intermediate portion 120 may be welded to each other with respect to a rim to have a space.

The inner space of the bottom part 130 and the middle part 120 can be used as a space for loading additional equipment such as a water jetting system (not shown) and a subsea soil inspection system.

The bottom portion 130 includes a bottom portion 131 formed flatly at the center of the lowermost bottom surface of the spud can 100, a concave portion 140 connected to a rim of the bottom portion 131 and disposed at a plurality of spaced intervals; And a keel zone 132 connected between the recesses 140 and extending in the up-and-down direction at the rim of the bottom zone 131.

The bottom section 131 may be formed in a cross shape by machining a plate material used for manufacturing the spud can.

The keel zone 132 can bear the load on the seabed surface when penetrating the bottom surface of the sprue can 100.

The keel zone 132 is connected between the round corner of the intermediate section 120 and the rim of the bottom section 131 and has an inclined plane of a lower light intensity shape and a keel bending at both sides of the inclined plane and connected to the concave section 140 Side wall surface.

The concave section 140 can push the soil of the seabed surface into which the spudded can 100 penetrates to the outside of the spud can 100 and can provide a relatively large surface area compared to the flat surface, It can play a role of increasing the frictional force with the soil.

Since the bottom portion 130 has a shape in which the concave portion 140 and the keel portion 132 are arranged in an alternating arrangement, when the spur can 100 first reaches the bottom of the sea, And by increasing the frictional force of the sea floor with the soil due to the shape characteristic of the concave section 140, it is possible to secure the grounding force of the sprue can 100 and the legs.

For example, the concave section 140 may include a curved section 141 which is curved in a direction perpendicular to the up-and-down direction from the rim of the bottom section 131 to form a curved surface, And a top plate section 142 connected between the rims and parallel to the surface of the bottom section 131.

The curved section 141 has a shape similar to a conical surface bulged toward the inner space of the sprung can 100 and may have a relatively large surface area as compared with a flat plate. The shape of the curved section 141 may be curved so as to smoothly connect the adjacent curved sections 142 in a state where the curved section 141 is bent in the direction of the inner space in the keel section 132. [

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A shown in Fig.

Referring to Fig. 6, in the jack-up mode of the floating structure, the legs can be lowered so that the spud cans 100 of the legs can be moved toward the sea floor surface B. [

Since the spud can 100 has a shape in which the curved section 141 bulges upward at an initial point of initial contact with the sea floor B, (B).

At this time, the keel zone 132 serves to bear the load generated by pressing the soil B2 contacting the surface of the keel zone 132.

The top plate section 142 also makes the compressed soil B4 as it infiltrates below the top plate section 142, just as the bottom section 131 presses the soil B1 of the bottom surface B . Herein, the penetrating force may mean an external force transmitted from the legs through the sprung can 100 for penetration.

The soil B3 under the curved section 141 is moved to the outside of the spud can 100 due to a shape feature such as the curved surface of the curved section 141, The friction force can be increased in contact with the soil (B).

The increased frictional force makes it possible to stably secure the grounding force capable of supporting the legs of the sprung can 100.

Second Example

Since the spud can of the floating structure according to this embodiment can be similar or substantially the same as the structure described in the first embodiment except for the shape of the keel zone, the bottom zone and the curved section, The description may be omitted, and similar reference numerals may be given to similar configurations.

7 is a perspective view showing a middle portion and a base portion of a spud can of a floating structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

7, the keel zone 132a is connected between the rims of the middle section 120a and the bottom section 131, and has a rectangular oblique surface 133 having the same upper width and lower width, And may have keel-side wall surfaces 134, 135 that are bent at both sides and connected to the concave section 140a.

The ends where the keel side walls 134 and 135 are connected to the concave section 140a may be formed in an arcuate shape.

The lower portion where the rectangular inclined surface 133 is connected to the bottom portion 131a may be machined to conform to the circumference of the bottom portion 131a.

The concave section 140a may be connected between the bottom section 131a and the middle section 120.

The upper portion of the concave portion 140a approaching the intermediate portion 120a may have a curvature close to a nearly smooth surface. The upper portion of the concave section 140a approaching the intermediate section 120 can make the compressed soil by its shape characteristic and can increase the frictional force.

The intermediate portion 120a may be formed in an octagonal ring shape. The connecting portion of the keel section 132a or the concave section 140a connected to the intermediate section 120a in this case may also be formed as a curved line or a curved line. Respectively.

The bottom section 131a may be formed in a disc shape by processing a plate material used for manufacturing the sprung can 100a. The disk-shaped bottom section 131a can increase the supporting area compared to the conventional cruciform.

In addition, the base of the spud can 100a may further include a skirt portion 149.

For example, a skirt 149 protruding downward may be further connected to the lower edge of the intermediate portion 120a to which the keel section 132a and the concave section 140a are connected.

The length or width of the sprung can 100a may be the same and may be larger than the thickness of the sprung can 100a.

The longitudinal section cut along the longitudinal direction (longitudinal direction) of the middle portion 120a of the sprue can 100a may be an octagonal ring shape. Accordingly, the vertical cross-section of the skirt portion 149 can be formed in the same manner as the vertical cross-section of the intermediate portion 120a.

The skirt portion 149 has a function of preventing the soil of the undersea surface protruding to the outside of the spud can 100a by the shape characteristic of the concave portion 140a and functioning as a jumping- So that it can play a role of further improving the grounding force.

Third Example

The spud can of the floating structure according to this embodiment may be similar or substantially the same as the configuration described in the first embodiment except that it further includes an extension section connected to the top plate section of the base section and extending outside the sped can. Therefore, the description of the previously described configuration and operation can be omitted, and similar reference numerals can be given to similar configurations.

8 is a perspective view showing a middle portion and a base portion of the spud can of the floating structure according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

The extension plate 150 may be further provided on the rim of the upper plate section 142 extending in the curved section 141 of the concave section 140 and extending in the outward direction of the sped can.

The rim of the upper plate section 142 and the portion where the rim of the extension plate 150 abuts can be joined by welding.

A plurality of triangular plate-like stiffeners 151 may be provided between the upper surface of the expansion plate 150 and the side surface of the intermediate portion 120. The expansion plate 150 may be provided on the outer surface of the intermediate portion 150 And can be stably supported.

The expansion plate 150 has a technical idea that substantially enlarges the area of the top plate section 142 and makes it possible to stably support the leg as it contacts the soil on the bottom of the sea with a relatively increased contact area.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. . Skilled artisans may implement a pattern of features that are not described in a combinatorial and / or permutational manner with the disclosed embodiments, but this is not to depart from the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be readily made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

100, 100a: spurd can 110: upper
120, 120a: intermediate portion 130: base portion
131a: bottom zone 132, 132a: keel zone
140, 140a: concave zone 141: curved section
142: upper plate section 149: skirt section
150: Extension

Claims (8)

A spandan can coupled to a lower end of a leg of a floating structure,
A base having repeatedly formed curved surfaces and inclined surfaces;
An intermediate portion connected to a rim of the base portion to form a wall; And
And an upper portion connected to the intermediate portion to close a space inside the intermediate portion. The method of claim 1,
The base unit includes:
A bottom section flatly formed at the center of the lowermost bottom of the spud can;
A concave section connected to the rim of the bottom section and arranged in plurality at a distance from each other; And
And a keel zone connected between said concave zones and extending in an up-and-down direction at a rim of said bottom zone. 3. The method of claim 2,
The concave section
A curved section extending from the rim of the bottom section in a direction perpendicular to the up-and-down direction to form a curved surface; And
And a top plate section connected between an upper portion of the curved section and an edge of the base section. 3. The method of claim 2,
The middle portion,
Wherein the sprue can is formed as a rectangular ring or octagonal ring having a round corner. 5. The method of claim 4,
In the keel zone,
And a keel sidewall surface connected between the rim of the intermediate portion and the bottom portion, the keel sidewall surface being connected to the concave portion by being bent at both sides of the oblique surface. The method of claim 3, wherein
The base unit includes:
Further comprising an extension plate extending in an outward direction of the sped can in an upper plate section of the concave section. The method of claim 1,
The bottom zone,
A spud can of a floating structure comprising a cross or circular plate shape. 3. The method of claim 2,
The base unit includes:
Further comprising a skirt portion protruding downward at a lower edge of the intermediate portion to which the keel zone and the concave region are connected.

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