Very Large Floating Structures

Close to half of the industrialised world now lives within a kilometre of the coast, indicating the long-standing attraction of the ocean. The sea increasingly presents an opportunity for colonisation and a means for alleviating the pressure on coastal land. It also offers renewable energy sources, new materials, and potential increases in food production. Very Large Floating Structures (VLFSs), especially pontoon-type VLFSs, represent an environmentally-friendly means of creating artificial land from the sea without destroying marine habitats, polluting coastal waters or altering tidal and natural current flow.This ground-breaking book begin with an introduction to VLFS and some thoughts on the colonization of ocean space with their appearance in the waters off developed coastal cities. Readers are then introduced to wave properties, which is essential for estimating the loading on the VLFS as well as for modelling structure-fluid interactions. The hydroelastic analysis of VLFS is then discussed in more detail. Structural analysis of VLFS is then covered, at an overall level and then at the cell level. Breakwaters are similarly outlined in general terms and then in their analysis and design. Simulation models are presented to understand the actual flow of water through the VLFS and to determine the drift forces for the mooring systems. Anti-corrosion systems and maintenance are described. And finally new research and developments are presented, with emphasis on the Mega-Float, a 1 km long floating test runway.Utsunomiya, T. is the author of 'Very Large Floating Structures', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415419536 and ISBN 0415419530.