en platform construction - bgrusnak/ConSEAderation GitHub Wiki

Platform Construction and Building

General Concept

The platform is designed for long-term autonomous operation in open sea. The main principle is an integral load-bearing system, maximum maintainability without loss of tightness and safety, integration of engineering systems at the structure molding stage.

Platform

  • Shape: regular hexagon, edge length 20 m, diameter across vertices ~40 m.
  • Construction:
    — Integral honeycomb plate made of reinforced foam glass,
    — 80% internal volume — honeycomb cavities (hermetic, with possibility of tightness control and purging),
    — Bottom plate thickness — 20 cm, top — 15 cm,
    — External shell and top layer reinforced with fiberglass/basalt plastic, all technological openings sealed with covers.
  • Rigidity and strength:
    — External and internal reinforcement,
    — Honeycomb structure provides maximum stability with minimum weight and ensures damage localization.
    • In the platform near the center, a 2×8 meter hatch is cut with automatically opening upward doors along the long side (with rising guard rail on the side distant from the stair junction), under which is located a four-flight stair made of foam glass attached to one of the short sides and lowered on tackles with a mooring platform on the lower edge, which in raised state fits flush into the platform body, and when lowered allows docking and boarding the platform.
    • Near the stair hatch, a 3×4 meter hatch is cut, also with folding door-guards, above which a rotating tackle is installed, allowing lifting or lowering up to two tons of cargo in a net.

Columns and Floats

  • Main load-bearing elements:
    — 6 columns evenly distributed around the hexagon, column centers located at 4/9 distance from radius to platform center, — Columns cast entirely from reinforced foam glass (without sectioning),
    — Column length — 12 m, of which 6 m submerged underwater, — Column cross-section - ellipse 5.2×1.7 meters, divided into two air chambers for OWC generation at the ends and an elevator shaft 2.40 long and width of the ellipse width,
    • Columns oriented in one direction, along the conditional platform axis, — Reinforcement — basalt mesh or composite strands,
      — Column contains shafts for elevator, engineering communications, sensors and emergency systems.
  • Floats:
    — Under each column — truncated spherical cone (top — to column, base — to bottom),
    — Made of reinforced composite (foam glass + basalt),
    — Provide additional buoyancy, compensate draft with load changes, dampen rolling, reduce movement resistance.
  • Connections:
    — Columns attached to platform through rigid reinforced sockets and additionally fixed inside platform honeycomb,
    — Access to engineering cavities — through hermetic hatches inside building.

Two-story Building Around Platform Perimeter

General Parameters

  • Location:
    — Building "encircles" the platform's outer perimeter,
    — First floor 8 meters wide, second floor — 4 meters, both floors form a ring.
  • Construction:
    — Building monolithic, made of reinforced foam glass,
    — External wall — direct continuation of platform outer edge (without protruding balconies and bay windows),
    — Internal wall of first floor — set back 8 m from external, second floor — 4 m from external,
    — Second floor terrace (4 m wide) oriented ONLY toward platform center, covered and landscaped,
    — Glazing: external walls — 20% area, internal (facing courtyard/terrace) — 80%.

Layout

Second Floor (en-residential)

  • 8 double occupancy sections of 24 m² with bathrooms (4 in each "wing" on both sides of section),
  • 8 single occupancy sections of 18 m² with bathrooms,
  • Storage rooms, wardrobes,
  • Work offices, library, medical station, server room, technical facilities,
  • Internal "gallery" overlooking terrace/courtyard.

First Floor (en-public)

  • Kitchen, dining room, wardroom (dining hall, recreation hall),
  • Warehouses, cold storage,
  • Workshop, utility block,
  • Biofarm: hydroponics, aquaponics, mushroom, livestock zones,
  • Internal courtyard/terrace with possibility of installing pool, sports area, "winter garden."

Communications

  • All communications run vertically through columns (elevator shafts, air ducts, engineering risers), then through ring technical corridors on each floor.
  • Designed emergency routes (sector isolation), sealing of key zones.

Energy and Engineering Systems

  • Generators (OWC, Magnus rotors, solar panels, generator sets) integrated into technical facilities of first floor and columns.
  • Main engineering networks — in under-deck space and building technical niches,
  • Ventilation, heating, air conditioning — with sector backup.

Propulsion and Drives

  • Azimuthal column-propellers located between main columns, integrated into platform "skirt."
  • Drive — electromechanical with gearbox; motors installed in platform hull, shaft passes through column on bearings.
  • All units — maintainable, can be replaced without lifting platform to dock.

Production and Repair

  • All structures adapted for own production at platform mini-factory:
    — foam glass, composites, metal trusses,
    — block and part molding according to pre-developed maps,
    — repair and module replacement performed on site.
  • All engineering systems standardized, mounting parts — on bolts/threads/quick-release connections.

Safety and Stability

  • All main structural elements designed with double safety factor for strength and buoyancy.
  • Emergency ballasting and compartment sealing system.
  • All building blocks connected to platform so that in case of depressurization or damage there is no "chain reaction" throughout the structure.

Conclusion

Such platform construction ensures strength, autonomy, high maintainability and adaptation to life and work in open ocean conditions, with maximum protection of crew and all engineering systems.