Lesson plan
Rack phase difference
Rack Phase Difference (RPD) is a difference in the elevation between rack teeth of the chords of any single leg of a jackup rig with open truss-type legs. This type of jackup vessel operates with a rack and pinion drive system, as opposed to the pin-hole system found on jackups rigs with tubular legs. The legs are mostly triangular though some with rectangular designs can be found. The chords are connected via a network of bracings to reinforce the leg structure. When a jackup positions its spudcan - i.e. the shoe mounted at the bottom of the leg - onto the seabed the mass of the vessel pressing down onto the seabed will cause a reaction force. If the seabed is inclined, or the spudcan does not travel straight through the soil due to the consistency of the soil layers encountered during leg penetration, the forces acting on the chords will be unequal, which will cause a chord - and the rack attached to it - to move ever so slightly up or down. This displacement is the Rack Phase Value (RPV), and can be either positive or negative. The sum of the absolute values of the RPV is the Rack Phase Difference.…
Article summary
Rack Phase Difference (RPD) is a difference in the elevation between rack teeth of the chords of any single leg of a jackup rig with open truss-type legs. This type of jackup vessel operates with a rack and pinion drive system, as opposed to the pin-hole system found on jackups rigs with tubular legs. The legs are mostly triangular though some with rectangular designs can be found. The chords are connected via a network of bracings to reinforce the leg structure. When a jackup positions its spudcan - i.e. the shoe mounted at the bottom of the leg - onto the seabed the mass of the vessel pressing down onto the seabed will cause a reaction force. If the seabed is inclined, or the spudcan does not travel straight through the soil due to the consistency of the soil layers encountered during leg penetration, the forces acting on the chords will be unequal, which will cause a chord - and the rack attached to it - to move ever so slightly up or down. This displacement is the Rack Phase Value (RPV), and can be either positive or negative. The sum of the absolute values of the RPV is the Rack Phase Difference.…
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
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