| Abstract: | The Texas A&M Low-Tension Oil Containment Barrier, the purpose of which is to control the movement of oil slicks on the ocean surface, was designed to minimize structural loads and to insure excellent wave following properties. This dissertation presents a mathematical model of the three-dimensional dynamic behavior of the barrier. The model treats the barrier as an assemblage of rigid body elements interconnected by a fabric skirt, with each element connected by bridle lines and a low stiffness spring to a main tension line. The buoyant, bridle, gravity, and hydrodynamic forces acting on each element a predicted, and a fourth order Runge-Kutta method is used to numerically solve the resulting equations of motion. The model can give displacements, velocities, and forces which are useful in designing or using the barrier. It is anticipated that the analysis techniques presented here in, if not the entire model, can be applied to any external tension line containment boom. |
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