Reinforced concrete offshore platform

Hydraulic and earth engineering – Marine structure or fabrication thereof – In or on frozen media

Patent

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Details

405204, 405210, E02D 2100, E02D 2500, E02D 2738

Patent

active

047010754

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to civil engineering and, in particular, to offshore platforms designed for carrying technological equipment and life-support system packages in development of continental shelves.


PRIOR ART

At present such offshore platforms are mainly made from steel and reinforced concrete. The latter is thought to be better suited for freezing seas, particularly prestressed reinforced concrete. It possesses such indispensable properties as strength, water-tightness, fire-resistance, durability, endurance, rigidity, resistance to subzero temperatures, wear-resistance and many others making it a highly effective material and sometimes the only one which could be used for offshore structures. Concrete in submersible structures becomes even stronger due to the volume stress produced by the hydrostatic pressure at depth. Local damage of reinforced concrete can very often be easily repaired.
Reinforced concrete submersible platforms for offshore recovery of mineral wealth can be towed to a new location after the resources of the old one are exhausted. New deposits can be industrially exploited at a minimal cost by using mobile platforms.
These platforms are made of cast-in-place concrete. Prefabricated components can only be used for some floor beams, breakwater parts and central shaft sections.
Known in the art is a cast-in-place reinforced concrete offshore platform comprising an equipment deck, supporting columns and a honeycomb caisson foundation. The platform foundation is used to transfer oil storage and ballasting in order to make the platform rest more stably on the sea bottom. The platform is built in slip forms, initially in a dry dock or a pit and later on in a shipyard. The completed platform is towed afloat to a selected location.
Such platforms are designed and constructed for mild weather conditions only. In addition, making cast-in-situ reinforced concrete structures in slip forms in harsh winter climates of Arctic and Far East regions presents numerous difficulties or is next to impossible to realize at all.
Also known in the art is a sectional reinforced concrete offshore platform comprising a honeycomb foundation, a support and an above-water structure. It also comprises a bottom slab, annular and radial partitions and a side shell.
A large variety of types and sizes of section elements and a multitude of extended joints packed with reinforcements are certainly disadvantages of this platform. Joints can be cast with concrete but the quality of such casting-in-situ is usually low and the durability of the structure is affected. It can even invite accident.


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide an offshore platform wherein the design of the principle components ensures better three-dimensional rigidity, greater bearing strength, improved resistance to ice push, and makes it easier to build such structures in severe weather conditions.
There is provided a reinforced concrete offshore platform comprising a honeycomb foundation, a supporting structure and an above-surface section to carry the equipment, wherein, according to the invention, the foundation and the supporting structure are made of prefabricated reinforced concrete elements which are polyhedral hollow prisms set with gaps between the external faces thereof and integrated by a system of prestressed vertical and horizontal diaphragm walls made by prestressing the reinforcement bars in the gaps between the prism faces and casting it with concrete later on.
In one of the embodiments of this invention each prism features cantilever ledges on side faces, the prestressed reinforcement bars arranged in the gaps between the prisms being made tight over said ledges.
In another embodiment of this invention prisms are secured to the bottom of the platform foundation along the perimeter thereof, one side of said prisms, which faces the sea floor, being split open.
One more embodiment of this invention has the honeycomb foundation, supporting structure and above-surface

REFERENCES:
patent: 3472031 (1969-10-01), Kelso
patent: 3698198 (1972-10-01), Phelps
patent: 3913335 (1975-10-01), Heier
patent: 4037423 (1977-07-01), Knutsen
patent: 4422804 (1983-12-01), Gerwick
patent: 4448570 (1984-05-01), Berthin
patent: 4511288 (1985-04-01), Wetmore
"Order In Space", Keith Critchlow, C 1969, Appendix 2.

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