Dynamic Model of a Semi-Submersible Platform for the Development of Ballast Control Systems

This paper describes a six degrees of freedom dynamic model for the development of ballast control systems for semi-submersible platforms. The dynamic model includes the effects of the ballast tanks such as weights, moments and inertias. The parameters of the dynamic model are computed from geometric data and from experimental results obtained with a small semi-submersible platform. The hull of the platform is represented by a mesh of tetrahedrons to allow the computation of the displacement and the center of buoyancy, which are important for the evaluation of the stability of the platform.