Numerical studies of offshore performance of floating protective barriers in waves and currents

Finite element modeling was applied to evaluate the performance of Triton® floating protective barrier designed by HALO Maritime Defense Systems (US) and used to provide essential protection to critical governmental, commercial, and private assets vulnerable to water-borne intrusion, such as liquefied natural gas terminals, tankers, etc. The numerical model created with Hydro-FE software was validated by physical tests and field deployment observations. Physical tests of a scaled barrier model were conducted in Chase Ocean Engineering Laboratory wave tank at the University of New Hampshire to measure response of the structure and its mooring to different single-frequency waves directed parallel and normal to the model. The field deployment of the full-scale barrier performed south-southwest of White Island, Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire, provided information on its dynamic behavior under monitored environmental conditions. Good correspondence between numerical, physical and field studies was observed. The validated numerical model of the barrier was then used to investigate its performance and seaworthiness in other current and wave conditions with different mooring pretension scenarios.