Calibration of a Jackup Structural Analysis Procedure Using Field Measurements From a North Sea Jackup

During the winter of 1988-89 a comprehensive structural measurement program was carried out on the Maersk Guardian jackup rig while it was operating at a firm, sandy location in the southern North Sea (Silver Pit). The purpose of this program was to determine how well a structural analysis procedure models the actual behaviour of a jackup. In recent years, industry attention has been focused on the finding that differences in analysis procedures can lead to widely varying assessments of a rig's structural suitability for a given location. The results of this measurement program provide insight to help resolve these differences. The paper focuses on how the measurements were applied to two stages of an analysis procedure: 1) to calibrate a jackup structural model and 2) to validate a procedure for calculating "static" wave load and dynamic response.