Stochastic Analyses

Abstract

Ocean environment including wave, wind and current is random in nature. Hence, the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loads and consequently the responses of offshore structures are random. If the time variation of the loads due to random nature of metocean is neglected, then the applied loads are called “deterministic”. This means the loads and consequently dynamic responses should be exactly known or determined. Normally, time variation of the loads due to random nature of the metocean is important and should be considered in the dynamic analysis. Probabilistic and statistical approaches are developed to handle “stochastic” dynamics. The aim of such methods is to “predict” the loads and load effects as accurate as possible. During the past couple of decades, stochastic methods have been widely applied in modeling the waves, wave loads and wave-induced responses for ships and ocean structures.