Experimental analysis on motions of riser for IODP deepwater riser drillship

JAMSTEC (Japan Marine Science and Technology Center) are constructing a deepwater scientific riser drillship (Figure 1), which will be made available for international cooperative scientific research program, the IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program) (Yano and Takagawa, 2001). Operational water depth of this drillship is 2,500 m in the initial stage, and the future target depth is set up to be 4,000 m. Generally, one of the most important elements on a deepwater drillship is the riser. In this study, experimental analysis simulating hang-off of the riser was carried out in order to establish more reliable analytical method to indicate the design criteria.