JACK-UP INTRODUCTION

15th April 2017

HCMC, Vietnam
INTRODUCTION

• A Jack Up is composed of a hull, legs and a lifting system

that allows it to be towed to a site, lower its legs into the
seabed and elevate its hull to provide a stable work deck
capable of withstanding the environmental and other loads.
• Self elevating drilling rigs (JACK-UP) is the most numerous
of all types of drilling units.
• Nowadays Jack Up units can operate in water depths of
around 500ft.
OTHER DRILLING RIGS
• Drillship
• Semisubmersible
DRILLING OPERATION:

Drill pipes

Tri-cone rock drill bit

ALL OFFSHORE DRILLING RIGS SERVE
THREE BASIC FUNCTIONS:

1. Raising and lowering the drill bit and drill pipe in the well using a
winch and blocks located in the derrick (a highly visible feature of the
rig). The derrick is a lattice of steel mounted over the drill floor where
most of the drilling activity takes place.

2. Rotating the drill bit using conventional electric motors or hydraulic

motors. The drill bit is used to cut through rock formations below the
seabed.

3. Circulating drilling fluid down to the drill bit and back to the rig.
Drilling fluid cools the bit, lubricates the hole to prevent sticking, and
carries rock cuttings to the surface. The circulation equipment
consists of high pressure pumps, separation equipment (to separate
rock cuttings from fluid) and storage tanks for the drilling fluid
ADVANTAGES OF JACK UP IN
COMPARISON TO SEMISUBMERSIBLES
• The daily rate is generally lower due to fact that construction cost
is less and it takes less people to operate a jack up.
• It can work over a platform even though some semis are claimed
to be able to workover a platform by sitting on bottom.
• It is cheaper for the operators to use a jack up.
• It needs less powerful boats and less time for relocation
• It does not need to run anchors
• Maintenance costs are less, there is no subsea system, the well
head assembly is much simpler.
• The down time is less on a jack up
-Once on location there is limited motion
-The drilling operation, handling operation are faster
DISADVANTAGES OF JACK UP IN
COMPARISON TO SEMISUBMERSIBLES
• The bottom condition may pose dangers of deep penetration
or punch through.
• The rig can not be move off location in case of a blow out or
other mishap
• The water depth is limited.

Its common knowledge that if feasible,

an operator would normally choose a jack up
MAJOR COMPONENT OF JACK UP
• Hull
• Leg
• Footing
• Equipment
• Elevating System
• Fixation System
• Cantilever Equipment
• Drill Floor Equipment
HULL
• The hull of a Jack-up unit is a watertight structure that supports
or houses the equipment, systems, and personnel, thus enabling
the Jack-up unit to perform its tasks
• Provides buoyancy during flotation
• Provides preload
 LEG STRUCTURE
- Mainly two kinds
- Plated legs ( Mostly cylindrical)
-Trussed legs

Cylindrical legs:
They are hollow steel tubes. They may or may
not have internal stiffening, and may have rack
teeth or holes in the shell to permit jacking of the
hull up and down the legs.
•Currently found on Units operating in water
depths less than 300 feet.
• Not recommended for higher depth design as
these legs require more steel to provide the
same resistance to environmental loads and
provide the same elevated response as truss
legged Units.
•Cylindrical legs take up less deck area and are
generally less complicated requiring less
experience to construct than trussed legs.
Trussed legs:
• Widely used with rack and pinion
system
• Attract lesser loads due to
hydrodynamic “transparency”
• Can be 4 chord or 3 chord
• Can be double pinion or single pinion
• Main components are:
- Chord (rack and split tube)
- Diagonal braces
- Horizontal braces

In general, the braces provide the shear

capacity of the leg while the chords
provide the axial and flexural stiffness.

Chor
 Chord

Horizontal Braces

Diagonal Braces

Span Breaker

Rack

Split tube

Chord
3-LEGGED VS. 4-LEGGED JACK-UPS
The great majority of Jack Up Units in the world have no more than
four legs, with three being the minimum required for stability. There
are some Units built with more than four legs.
3 Legged:
•The main advantage of three-legged Units is that they completely
eliminate the need to build extra leg.
•Furthermore, for a given hull size, they can carry more deck load in
the afloat mode; and usually have a reduced number of elevating
units (pinions, cylinders, etc) resulting in reduced power/
maintenance requirements and less weight ,resulting in reduced
power/maintenance requirements, and less weight.
•Disadvantages of three-legged units include the fact that they
require preload tanks and they have no leg redundancy.
3-LEGGED VS. 4-LEGGED JACK-UPS (CONTD…)
4 Legged:
•Units with 4-legs usually have the legs arranged in some
rectangular form.
•Four-legged Units require little or no preload tanks on board. This
is because four legged Units can preload two legs at a time using
the elevated weight as preload weight. This results in a savings of
piping and equipment weights, and more usable space within the
hull.
•Because of the fourth leg, these Units are stiffer in the elevated
mode than a three-legged Unit.
•This apparent advantage may be offset by the fact that the
additional leg adds wind, wave and current loads.
• In the afloat transit mode, the fourth leg is a disadvantage as its
weight causes a direct reduction in the afloat deck load when
compared to an equivalent three legged unit
3-LEGGED VS 4-LEGGED JACK-UPS (CONTD..)
3-CHORDED LEGS VS 4-CHORDED JACK-UPS

•Trussed legs have either 3 or 4 main vertical structural members

called chords. •All trussed-leg Jack Up Units operating today have
one of these chord arrangements.
•In essence, the benefits and disadvantages of three- versus four-
chorded legs are comparable in nature to those of three- and four-
legged Jack Ups (i.e., overall weight/drag loads and
redundancy),except that they do not affect preloading procedures
in any way.
OPPOSED PINION CHORDS VS.
RADIAL PINION CHORDS
Jack Up Units that have rack and pinion elevating systems have
the interface between the racks and pinions in one of two
configurations:

• Two opposed pinions

• A single radial pinion at each chord.

All jacking systems exert vertical and horizontal forces on the leg
at the pinion/rack interface (as the contact area is not horizontal).
•Opposed pinion systems balance these loads across the chord
introducing zero net additional horizontal load applied to the leg
bracing.
•Radial pinions exert a horizontal load on the leg bracing due to the
pinion arrangement
OPPOSED PINION CHORDS VS.
RADIAL PINION CHORDS ( CONT…)
 LEG AND SPUD CAN SYSTEM

- Spud cans are generally modified circular in general, some times other
geometric configurations are also used
- Spud cans are “footings” that will spread the load on the soil there by
preventing deep penetrations
- Leg to spud can joint to with stand moments due to uneven sea bed
- Generally sized as per the bearing area requirement
- Shape is basically decided based on leg arrangement and to maximize
bearing area and strength of spud can
- Eductors are used for emptying the spud can
- Free flooding is the usual mode of spud can filling
- There are cases where spud cans are designed buoyant
- The so-called rock crusher at tip of can is used when landing on very
hard soil / rock formations
FOOTING
(INDEPENDENT LEG VS MAT TYPE)

• Almost all Jack Up Units have footings. Their purpose is to

increase the leg’s bearing area, thereby reducing the
required capacity of the soil to provide a solid foundation upon
which the Jack Up will stand and transfer weight, operational,
and environmental loads to the seabed.
INDEPENDENT LEG VS MAT TYPE

• INDEPENDENT LEG
• Spud can of independent type legs are
generally circular or polygonal shape
structure designed with heavy point to
provide penetration in the hardest sea
floor as well as to ease retrieval from deep
penetration soft bottom.
• This type of rig are designed for a wider
range of bottom conditions including
uneven or slanting excessive.
• Latest Jack ups have conical shape
with diameter varying from 10m to20m.
• MAT TYPE
• Mat type of jack up is designed specifically for very soft bottom
such as west coast of India or in Gulf of Mexico.
• During float transit mode, mats provide considerable buoyancy,
which may translate to increased variable load
carrying capability.
• However the bottom must be rather flat and free of outcrop to
limit damage to the mat.
LEG AND SPUD CAN SYSTEM CONTD.
 Elevating System
All Jack Ups have mechanisms for lifting and lowering the hull.
Main Types:
• Rack and pinion
Uses racks on legs and pinions mounted on hull/jack frame
• Hydraulic pin type
Uses holes on legs and pins fixed to hull / hydraulic jack frame
Majority of Jack Ups in use today are equipped with a
Rack and Pinion system for continuous jacking
operations.

Jacking Capacity > = lightweight of hull + jacking VL

Holding Capacity >= preloaded weight OR maximum
leg reaction in storm
Jacking with preload is also available as option

HYDRAULIC PIN TYPE JACKING SYSTEM

FIXATION SYSTEM/RACK CHOCK
All Jack Up Units must transfer the environmental, gravity, and
operational loads between the hull and the legs. Some Units rely on the
elevating pinions to transfer these loads in all modes of operation, while
others use the pinions primarily for Jacking operations and use a fixation
system to transfer the loads the majority of the time other than jacking
operations.
FIXATION SYSTEM/RACK CHOCK ( CONTD..
•Leg bending moment may be transferred from the legs to the hull as a
horizontal couple (i.e., opposite forces at the upper and lower guides)
or as a vertical couple (i.e., differential chord loading). The proportion of
the moment transferred by each of these mechanisms is dependent on
their relative stiffness values. Units with leg fixation systems increase
(90-95 %) the proportion of the moment transferred as a vertical couple.
FIXATION SYSTEM/RACK CHOCK ( CONTD..)
LEG FIXATION SYSTEMS VERSUS NO LEG
FIXATION SYSTEMS

LEG FIXATION SYSTEMS NO LEG FIXATION SYSTEMS

•Lighter bracing •Heavier bracing
•More prone to bracing failure in •More number of pinions
case of damage •Higher leg weight
•Lower wind and/or drag force
•Higher wind and/or drag force

• Selection is based on maximum leg reaction in storm

• Specified as a holding capacity
UPPER AND LOWER GUIDE
• Protecting pinions from hull,
• all upper and lower guides are capable of transferring leg bending
moment to the hull to some degree determined by the design. The
amount of moment transferred by the guides to the hull as a
horizontal couple is dependent on the relative stiffness of the guides
with respect to the stiffness of the pinions and/or fixation system (if
any).
 Cantilever Equipment
- Equipments on cantilever are
- The pipe transfer system (cat walk machine type)
- Skidding system
- Shale shakers (if cantilever mounted)
 CANTILEVER EQUIPMENT CONTD
- cat walk system
CANTILEVER EQUIPMENT CONTD..
 CANTILEVER EQUIPMENT CONTD..
• Skidding system
- rack and pinion or hydraulic
- capacity specified based on total weight of cantilever and drill floor
 Cantilever Equipment (contd…)
• Shale Shakers are the primary filter that filters the mud from solids
(Cuttings). Shale shakers have screens with different opening sizes
(Mesh) mounted on the top that vibrates, this vibration helps to
separate mud from the cuttings while it travels over the screen before
dumping in the cuttings pit. The cuttings must be transported onshore
for further processing and dumping.
 Cantilever Equipment (contd…)
-Shale Shakers Contd.
NOV Brandt sextuple VSM 300 shale shaker arrangement
 Drill Floor Equipment
Drill floor contains drilling equipment
• Derrick and pipe racking system for offline stand building
• Drawworks
• Rotary
• Roughnecks
• Hydraulic cathead
• Set back area
• Drillers Cabin
• LER room
• Drilling system manifolds (cement, C&K)
• Wire line unit
• Mouse holes
• Mud gas separator
-
Drill floor equipment contd
Drill floor equipment contd
Drill floor equipment contd

Rotary Table
Drill floor equipment contd
Drill floor equipment contd
Drill floor equipment contd
Drill floor equipment contd
 Drill floor equipment contd
Sand line drum
the same components as Low
main drum
Make up High Gear Gear
cathead Brake Bands Brake-out
High clutch Brake Flange Cathead
Main Drum

Brake handle

Drillers
controls Low clutch

Brake equalising bar

adjustment bolts
Drill floor equipment contd
DRILL FLOOR EQUIPMENT CONTD
DESIGN BASIS
 RULES AND REGULATIONS
•Classification & Notation (ABS, DNV)
•Port of Registry
•Mandatory Rules & Regulations (class, IMO, ILLC etc)
•Operating Area Regulations (UK HSE, DMA USCG etc)
•Other Standards, Recommendations, Codes and Guidelines (AISC,
SNAME, API etc)
WATER DEPTH

• Single most important parameter for Jack Up design

• Important parameter in the calculation of wave and current
• Directly decides all other rig design including cost
• Directly affects “class” of rig (300 ft jack up, 400 ft jack up etc)
• Leg design directly affected
• Generally measured as mean water line MWL to seabed
• Data taken from metocean study when carrying out site specific
analysis
• Distance between seabed and SWL to be used as reference water
depth for calculation
DESIGN LIFE

• Generally 25 years
• This is generally standard life for marine structures / vessels
• Will decide the fatigue life parameter during design
ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES ON JACK UP
 ENVIRONMENTAL LIMITING CONDITIONS

Survival Environment
• Generally based on metocean data study.
• Minimum storm condition to be considered in the calculations for a
new location are the one with 50 year return period.
• Few class requires 100 year return period environment.

• Wave and associated wave period from met ocean study

• Maximum wave height to be considered is the 50 year wave
height.
• Maximum wave height is considered for regular wave analysis
• Spectral approach is generally not employed for Jack Ups
• Current speed and profile can have significant effect on the wave
force acting on jackup.
 ENVIRONMENTAL LIMITING CONDITIONS (CONTD..)
• Wind Speed to be considered is the maximum of the average value in
one minute duration ( not 3 minute gust) associated with minimum 50
year return period.
• Air gap is measure from mean water line. It must be sufficient to avoid
crest of the wave hitting the bottom of the hull
The air gap is not to be less than 10 per cent of the combined
astronomical tide, storm surge and wave crest elevation above
the mean water level (MWL). However, the air gap is not required
to be greater than 1.2 m

Alternate definition of Air Gap

 Environmental Limiting Conditions (Contd..)

• Penetration should be estimated at the feasibility stage bad on

undrained shear strength of the soil and its variation with the depth
below the mudline.
- In deep water leg length may be too shrot if the penetration is
significant.
- Minimum of 1.5 m of reserve leg length is required above the
jack case.
- in shallow water leg extended above jack case may cause
excessive wind load.

• Sample survival environment (Central North Sea) is below:

 ENVIRONMENTAL LIMITING CONDITIONS CONTD

Operating Environment

• Generally derived based on the chosen leg design from the survival
• Operating environment data is from nomograms
• Operating environment will be sometimes critical because of DAF as
operating wave period can be closer to natural period.
• In real operations at site, site specific data is also checked against
Class requirement
 AMBIENT TEMPERATURES

• Directly affects steel properties and material selection

• Machinery and electrical equipment selection affected
• Design basis for HVAC design
• Mainly depends on the area of operation
• Southern North Sea and summer months of Central and Northern
North Sea
• Persian gulf region
• Sample:
 DESIGN LOADS & CAPACITIES
• Deck Design Loads
• Generally decided based on industry standards / client
requirement

• Drill floor area within the derrick shall also comply with dropped
object criteria (for eg, 9 MT from 1 m or 3 MT from 3 m)
 CANTILEVER & DRILLING CAPACITY

• Very important parameter in deciding drilling system

• Direct cost implication
• Main deciding factor for drilling equipment package

• Drilling Depth Capability - 30,000 to 35,000 ft

• Drill Centre Reach

Aft (70 to 80 ft)
Transverse (12 to 15 ft)

• Drill Floor Loads

• Static hook load (1000 to 2000 kips) depending on drilling depth
• Rotary load - generally same as hook load depending on drilling
depth
• Set back load - decided to suit the drill string as per required
drilling depth
CANTILEVER & DRILLING CAPACITY CONTD…..

• Combined Drilling Capacity

• The maximum combined drilling load capacity (for eg 2000 kips
to 3000 kips)
• important parameter during actual operations
• Decides the strength of cantilever structure
• A summed value limited to the individual maxima of
• - Max hook load (say 2000 kips)
• - Max rotary load (say 2000 kips)
• - Max set back load (say 800 kips)
LIGHTWEIGHT & VARIABLE LOADS

• Lightweight is output of design

• VL is the pay load capacity of the rig in elevated mode
• Survival VL is the maximum during survival
- Generally includes setback, hook/rotary empty
- The usual tankages and deck cargo

• Operating VL is based on Operating nomograms

• Includes full combined drilling loads

• Jacking / Afloat VL
- Jacking VL is determined by capacity of jacking system
- Generally jacking VL and afloat VL is same
- Loading condition change may be required between jacking
VL and afloat VL changeover because of spud can buoyancy
loss and to alter LCG and TCG.
OTHER DESIGN BASIS PARTS

-Naval Architectural
- Hull Shape & Size
- Stability and Free Board
- Towing Resistance
-Structural
- Hull
- Cantilever & Drill Floor Structure
- Legs
- Spudcans
- Jackcase Structure
- Crane Foundation & Boom Support Structures
- Deck House
OTHER DESIGN BASIS PARTS

- Accommodation & Helideck

- Accommodation Arrangement
- Helideck
- Safety, Fire Fighting & Environment
- Life Saving Appliances
- Fire Fighting Systems
- Structural Fire Protection
- Hazardous Area Classification
- Pollution Abatement
MATERIAL SELECTION
Structure elements are grouped into three categories depending upon
the criticality of application.

Special Application (Most Critical)

Failure of special application structural elements may cause
catastrophic structural damage to the unit with high risk of loss of life
and environmental pollution.

Primary Application (Intermediate)

Failure of primary application structural elements may cause significant
structural damage to the unit with moderate risk of loss of life and
environmental pollution

Secondary Application (Least Critical)

Failure of secondary application structural elements may cause minor
structural damage to the unit with low risk of loss of life and
environmental pollution
MATERIAL SELECTION ( CONTD…..)
• Service temperature is decided during design stage based on
operating area. For example, for north sea design service
temperature is -20oC.
STABILITY AGAINST OVERTURNING
A jack-up in an elevated condition is exposed to environmental loads (wind, waves
and current) which contribute to a resulting overturning moment, Mo. The functional
loads (gravity loads) contribute to a resulting stabilizing moment, Ms.
Safety against overturning requires that the stabilizing moment is greater than the
overturning moment.

Overturning Moment Mo = MWD + MW/C

where
MWD = overturning moment due to wind.
MW/C = overturning moment due to the combined effect of waves and current, incl.
dynamic effects

The stabilizing moment may be taken as:

where
Mso= stabilizing moment as calculated
if the legs are perfectly straight and vertical.
n = number of legs.
eo = maximum horizontal offset of the platform,.
e = sideway 1st order deflection of barge due to wind, waves and current.
P = average axial leg load.
PE = Euler load on one leg, see in App
Refer DNV- RP-C104 for details
FOR DISCUSSION.

L
PRELOADING
Preloading is process of simulating maximum storm reaction
before jacking up the hull to reach required air gap at a location.
WHY?
Jack-up in addition to gravity load also exposed to environmental
loads which tends to overturn the rig and gives additional vertical
force on leeward side Spudcan. Should the rig have not been
preloaded to simulate leg load , the additional vertical force on the
leeway Spudcan during storm would cause an additional
penetration and resulting tilling of the rig.
FOUNDATION STABILITY
JACK UP FOUNDATION ACCIDENTS
JACK UP FOUNDATION ACCIDENTS

 Punch through during preloading or hurricane / storm events

 Uneven sea bed
 Scour
 Footprint
 Seafloor instability
 Mudslide
 Seabed slide
 Volcanic activity
 Sliding of mat foundation
 Unexpected penetration
 PUNCH THROUGH
• Punch-through is the most sever failure mode of independent leg jack-ups.
• Punch-through failure occur when strong soil of limited thickness overlies a weaker layer of soil.

• I

• Generally the rapid penetration of one or more spudcans into the weaker layer will continue
until adequate resistance is encountered at a deeper penetration.
• This resistance is comprised of soil bearing capacity as it increase with depth in the weaker
layer and if the drop is large, to the increasing buoyancy of hull as it enters the water.
SCOUR
• Scour may partially remove the soil from below the spudcan,
resulting in a reduction of the ultimate bearing capacity of the
foundation and any seabed fixity.
• Removal of seabed soils by currents and waves chiefly incurred in
sandy seafloors.
• Scouring often develops in a very short period of time, a few hours
to a few days, when the right current and wave conditions are
satisfied.
• Regular inspection of the state of scouring around the jack up spud
cans is therefore necessary in sandy seafloors.
Thank You

Questions