Test Research on Influence of Draft on Towing Behaviors of 3-Bucket Foundation Platform*

To investigate the natural frequencies and towing behaviors of a 3-bucket foundation platform at different drafts, the decay and towing experiments were carried out in a towing tank on a scale of 1:20. The air pressure inside the bucket foundations, the water pressure at the bottom of the bucket foundations, the acceleration of the platform and the towing force were determined in the test process. The time-history curves of the measured parameters were obtained, and the frequency responses of the parameters at different drafts were analyzed by means of fast Fourier transform(FFT). The results showed that the platform natural frequency of heave decreased slightly with the rise of draft. The natural frequencies of roll and pitch are much lower than that of heave, and they increased slightly with the increase of draft. When towing in the following sea, the maximum acceleration of surge, sway and heave has downward trends with the increase of draft, but the change range decreased gradually with the increase of draft. When the draft is 5.0 m(the ratio of draft to bucket height is 0.56), the towing dynamic responses achieve the maximum, which is not conducive to the towing of the platform. When the draft is 6.0 m(the ratio of draft to bucket height is 0.67), the towing dynamic responses are the most stable.