Vibration control of steel jacket offshore platform structures with damping isolation systems

In this paper, a damping isolation system is developed for vibration control of steel jacket offshore platform structures. At first, a damping isolation system composed of rubber bearings and viscous dampers is proposed for vibration mitigation of JZ20-2MUQ jacket platform located in Bohai Sea. The influence of key parameters of the damping isolation system on the vibration suppression of the offshore structure is studied in detail. In order to examine the vibration control effectiveness of the damping isolation system for the jacket platform, a comprehensive experimental and numerical study is carried out. The experimental investigation is conducted on a shaking table for a 1/10-scale JZ20-2MUQ platform model subjected to four different earthquake ground motions. The performance of the controlled structure under the actions of ice and seismic-induced forces is then studied by numerical simulations. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with those from the numerical simulations. It is shown from the combined experimental and numerical study that the damping isolation system is effective in mitigating the dynamic responses of the offshore platform structure. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.