Fatigue reliability—measured response of the heidrun TLP tethers

One of the most important uncertainties associated with fatigue damage of TLP tethers is the uncertainty related to fatigue loading. Higher–order load effects are important and such effects are very complicated to determine numerically. The Heidrun TLP was installed in the summer of 1995 and for this platform the forces in the top of the tethers are measured during the operational phase. In this paper the results of these measurements are discussed and compared with numerical calculations. It is shown how the measurements of fatigue loading can be used to improve the fatigue reliability and reduce the need for in-service inspections.     

Advances in the three-dimensional fluid–structure–soil interaction analysis of offshore jack-up structures

The operation of mobile jack-up drilling rigs in harsher ocean environments requires enhanced understanding of their behaviour in storm loading conditions and suitable numerical simulation tools for the assessment of their suitability for a particular site. This paper introduces the numerical program SOS_3D, which incorporates appropriate models for the three components of the structure, the soil and the environmental loading of offshore structures like jack-ups. The program is formulated for three-dimensional (3D) analysis and provides an integrated approach to the inter-related aspects of fluid–structure–soil interaction analysis. In applying the program, results of an example jack-up subjected to both symmetric and asymmetric loading situations are compared and discussed. Quasistatic push-over analyses are used to illustrate aspects of jack-up behaviour in three dimensions. Furthermore, jack-up response to storm loading conditions is predicted in dynamic wave loading analyses, demonstrating the necessity of 3D dynamic simulations and emphasising the benefit of using a force-resultant foundation model based on plasticity theory.     

Collision damage of jack-ups

North Sea collision accident records covering a period of ten years indicate that the risk of collisions involving jack-ups is not dissimilar to that for semi-submersibles or fixed jacket structures. However, jack-ups are much more flexible than jackets and have a much lower degree of redundancy. Their response to collisions and their ability to absorb impact energy is, therefore, expected to be considerably different in comparison to jackets. This paper examines available data and information regarding the capability of jack-ups to withstand collision impacts and investigates the level of local damage that can potentially be caused to jack-up legs due to accidental collisions.     

考虑液舱内部水动力的FPSO波浪载荷研究

为研究液舱内液货自由面水动力效应对船体波浪载荷及船体运动的影响,基于一艘15万吨FPSO,选取液货舱原始布置形式下两种典型装载工况以及一组具有不同长度中部半载液舱的FPSO液舱分布模型,分别采用准静态方法和全动态方法对船体波浪载荷及运动进行计算。结果表明,使用准静态方法进行波浪载荷预报具有工程可靠性,中部半载液舱长度对船体波浪载荷及运动有一定影响。     

Numerical simulation of fatigue crack propagation under biaxial tensile loadings with phase differences

Fatigue crack propagation under the biaxial tensile loading, which loading directions are normal and parallel to the initial crack position, is highlighted in this study. Most of in-service structures and vessels are subjected to many types of loading. Generally, these loadings have different axial components with different phases. However, the structural integrities of structures and vessels are evaluated according to design codes based on theoretical and experimental investigations under a uniaxial loading condition. Most of these codes are based on the S–N curves approach. An approach that does not use S–N curves has been favored by researchers, with the fracture mechanics approach preferred for evaluating the fatigue life of structures. An advanced fracture mechanics approach was developed based on the Re-tensile Plastic zone Generating (RPG) stress criterion for fatigue crack propagation. In this study, fatigue crack propagation tests under biaxial loading with six different phase and loading conditions are performed and the effect of the phase difference under biaxial loading is evaluated. A numerical simulation method of fatigue crack propagation based on the RPG stress criterion under different biaxial loading phase conditions is presented and compared to measured data.     

Reliability analysis of fatigue life of the connectors—the US Mobile Offshore Base

Reliability-based design analysis of the fatigue life of the connectors of the five sections of the 2-km long US Mobile Offshore Base (MOB) is demonstrated. A performance function is defined in terms of the nominal stress range, inherent defect or starter crack, and appropriate material properties, which are considered random variables. The reliability analysis is performed for a sea state 1–8 (SS1–8) random loading having a Gumbel distribution. Where possible, uncertainty data for random variables are obtained from published data relating to the fatigue of metal and metal alloys. Otherwise, judgmental coefficients of variation are prescribed for purposes of demonstration. The fatigue life is assumed to follow the Weibull distribution. The reliability function is defined in terms of the mean life and the total uncertainty in the fatigue life. Preliminary reliability calculations suggest that current design stress levels be reduced to meet the current fatigue life target reliability level for the MOB connectors. An illustrative design is demonstrated and the metal selected for a fatigue design of the connectors for 10 million cycles with a reliability of 0.99 at a nominal stress of 203 MPa is HY-130 steel.     

薄膜型LNG船全船结构屈服和疲劳强度分析

以某薄膜型液化天然气（Liquefied Natural Gas,LNG）船的结构设计为例,开展全船屈服强度校核和基于精细网格的有限元疲劳强度分析。针对5种典型装载状态,基于美国船级社（American Bureau of Shipping,ABS）全船强度直接计算指南,采用ABS-DLA/SFA系列软件,用三维波浪载荷预报程序对波浪随机载荷进行长期预报。基于预报结果,针对每种装载状态计算15个设计波参数组,求解全船结构在各载荷组合工况下的应力分布,继而完成屈服强度校核。以甲板机械室与穹顶甲板相交处的关键节点区域的节点设计为例开展细网格局部强度分析,并通过各种改进设计解决应力集中问题。针对2种常用典型操作装载状态及营运于北大西洋海区疲劳寿命满足40a的要求,基于ABS全船疲劳强度直接计算指南计算2个典型细化位置热点应力传递函数,通过谱分析得到疲劳累积损伤和疲劳寿命,完成疲劳强度校核。采用的全船强度和疲劳分析方法和思路适用于其他超大型船舶的结构分析。     

基于断裂力学的散货船外底纵骨疲劳寿命评估

基于断裂力学的疲劳裂纹扩展理论,按《散货船共同结构规范》确定疲劳载荷及计算工况,通过有限元应力分析对某散货船外底纵骨与横舱壁或横框架连接节点处进行疲劳寿命分析,并探讨了裂纹形状比对疲劳寿命的影响。研究结果表明,外底纵骨上远离横舱壁或横框架一侧的软趾端处的疲劳寿命比靠近横舱壁或横框架一侧的通焊孔焊缝趾端处的疲劳寿命要短,并且疲劳寿命随着裂纹形状比的增大而增大。     

大型矿砂船复杂节点疲劳寿命分析方法研究

本文基于中国船级社疲劳指南中散货船的总体要求,结合大型矿砂船结构布置与实际装载模式的特点,建立了针对矿砂船复杂节点的疲劳强度评估方法。通过对实船装载数据的统计,提出了适用于疲劳评估的典型装载工况及各工况静水弯矩系数、时间分配系数和相关运动参数的推荐值。基于本文的评估方法,对三型矿砂船复杂节点的结构疲劳寿命进行了分析,筛选得到矿砂船疲劳评估的关键位置,并总结了共性规律。本文研究工作可为大型矿砂船疲劳强度评估提供参考。     

复杂载荷作用下潜艇结构疲劳裂纹扩展预报方法

统一疲劳裂纹扩展模型是课题组在McEvily模型基础上提出来的,它将疲劳裂纹扩展的3个扩展区域统一起来,并能解释更多的疲劳试验现象.本文介绍了统一疲劳裂纹扩展模型的基本表达式.将此模型与焊缝焊趾表面裂纹应力强度因子的计算方法结合起来,探讨复杂载荷作用下潜艇结构疲劳裂纹扩展预报方法.将服从Weibull分布的随机载荷系列编排为升序、降序载荷谱及随机载荷谱,预报潜艇锥柱结合壳焊缝焊趾处表面裂纹在3种载荷谱下的疲劳裂纹扩展情况,并分析随机载荷谱下载荷次序效应及初始裂纹尺寸对疲劳裂纹扩展行为的影响.结果表明,载荷次序效应对潜艇结构疲劳寿命的影响很明显,且合理的确定初始裂纹尺寸对潜艇结构的疲劳寿命预报是非常重要的.     

Simulation-based fatigue crack management of ship structural details applied to longitudinal and transverse connections

It is of continuing importance for ship structural design to establish a system to compute the growth behavior of fatigue cracks propagating in structural details. In the present paper, a simulation program is developed for multiple fatigue cracks propagating in a three-dimensional stiffened panel structure, where it can predict fatigue crack lives and paths by taking into account the interaction of multiple cracks, load shedding during crack propagation and welding residual stress. Various fatigue crack propagations in longitudinal stiffeners of ship structures are investigated by both the present simulation method and experiments. From these results, it is found that the crack propagation may considerably change, depending on the loading conditions, structural details and residual stress distributions. This means that one could possibly manage to avoid fatal damage of the skin-plate by properly designing the structural details. Furthermore, these results may imply a possibility to realize a rational fatigue crack management if one can estimate the fatigue crack-propagation behavior during the ship lifecycle. The present simulation program may offer a useful numerical tool for this purpose.     

Fracture mechanics analysis for mooring chain links subjected to out-of-plane bending (OPB)

A fracture mechanics (FM) based investigation on the mechanism of out-of-plane bending (OPB) between mooring chain links and its effects on fatigue lives of mooring chain links are conducted. Four types of OPB problems that mooring chain links laying on the chain wheel, chain links passing over the bending shoe, chain links constraint provided by the chain hawse, and chain links constraint provided by the chain stopper are considered. Tension ranges of mooring lines are calculated based on the combined loading process induced by the motions of wave frequency (WF) and low frequency (LF). Initial cracks are assumed to propagate from surfaces of chain links and stress intensity factors are calculated in terms of stress ranges determined by a finite element (FE) analysis. The results show that fatigue lives of mooring chain links are decreased significantly due to OPB effects. In addition, the increase of the number of pockets of chain wheel mitigates OPB effects on fatigue lives of mooring chain links laying on the chain wheel, and the increase of the track diameter would reduce OPB effects on fatigue lives of mooring chain links passing over the bending shoe as well. However, for chain links constraint provided by the chain hawse, the diameter of mooring chain hawse has no significant effect on fatigue lives of the mooring chain links subject to OPB if without the abrupt change of the contact conditions between chain links and chain hawse. For mooring links constraint provided by chain stoppers considering the effect of proof loading test, fatigue lives of mooring chain links would drop significantly with the increase of interlink angles and friction coefficient.     

A regression and beam theory based approach for fatigue assessment of containership structures including bending and torsion contributions

Container shipping has been expanding dramatically during the last decade. Due to their special structural characteristics, such as the wide breadth and large hatch openings, horizontal bending and torsion play an important role to the fatigue safety of containerships. In this study the fatigue contributions from vertical bending, horizontal bending and torsion are investigated using full-scale measurements of strain records on two containerships. Further, these contributions are compared to results from direct calculations where a nonlinear 3D panel method is used to compute wave loads in time domain. It is concluded that both bending and torsion have significant impacts on the fatigue assessment of containerships. The stresses caused by these loads could be correctly computed by full-ship finite element analysis. However, this requires large computational effort, since for fatigue assessment purposes the FE analysis needs to be carried out for all encountered sea states and operational conditions with sufficient time steps for each condition. In this paper, a new procedure is proposed to run the structure finite element analysis under only one sea condition for only a few time steps. Then, these results are used to obtain a relationship between wave loads and structural stresses through a linear regression analysis. This relation can be further used to compute stresses for arbitrary sea states and operational conditions using the computed wave loads (bending and torsion moments) as input. Based on this proposed method for structure stress analysis, an efficient procedure is formulated and found to be in very good agreement with the full-ship finite element analysis. In addition it is several orders of magnitude more time efficient for fatigue assessment of containership structures.     

Dynamic analysis of a dual-spar floating offshore wind farm with shared moorings in extreme environmental conditions

The concept of a shared mooring system was proposed to reduce mooring and anchoring costs. Shared moorings also add complexity to the floating offshore wind farm system and pose design challenges. To understand the system dynamics, this paper presents a dynamic analysis for a dual-spar floating offshore wind farm with a shared mooring system in extreme environmental conditions. First, a numerical model of the floating offshore wind farm was established in a commercial simulation tool. Then, time-domain simulations were performed for the parked wind farm under extreme wind and wave conditions. A sensitivity study was carried out to investigate the influence of loading directions and shared line mooring properties. To highlight the influence of the shared line, the results were compared to those of a single spar floating wind turbine, and larger platform motions and higher tension loads in single lines are observed for the wind farm with shared moorings. The loading direction affects the platform motions and mooring response of the floating offshore wind farm. Comparing the investigated loading directions to the 0-deg loading direction, the variation of mean mooring tension at the fairlead is up to 84% for single lines and 16% for the shared line. The influence of the shared line properties in the platform motions and the structural responses is limited. These findings improve understanding of the dynamic characteristics of floating offshore wind farms with a shared mooring system.     

一种复杂载荷作用下船舶结构疲劳裂纹扩展预报方法

风暴模型是Tomita等提出的用来评估船舶结构疲劳强度的一种随机波浪载荷简化模型,它能表达波浪载荷是与时间相关的随机过程。文中介绍了风暴模型及波浪诱导应力短期分布的基本特征。将风暴模型和裂纹扩展率单一曲线模型及焊趾表面裂纹应力强度因子的计算方法结合起来,探讨了复杂载荷作用下船舶结构疲劳裂纹扩展预报方法。并用权函数法计算了给定残余应力分布的表面裂纹应力强度因子。预报了对接焊接接头焊趾处表面裂纹在风暴波浪载荷作用下的疲劳裂纹扩展行为,结果表明风暴的大小、顺序,初始裂纹尺寸及残余应力对裂纹扩展行为影响明显。合理的风暴模型参数及初始裂纹尺寸的确定对船舶结构的疲劳寿命预报是非常重要的。     

Fatigue assessment by spectral approach for the ISSC comparative study of the hatch cover bearing pad

Fatigue analyses were carried out using a spectral approach in the ISSC comparative study of the hatch cover-bearing pad (Marine Struct 15 (2001) 1; 14th International Ship & Offshore Structures Congress, Nagasaki, Japan, 2000). The predicted fatigue life was 5.3 years for the structural detail. For the same detail, the fatigue life predictions of the classification societies were between 2 and 21 years (Marine Struct 15 (2001) 1; 14th International Ship & Offshore Structures Congress, Nagasaki, Japan, 2000). In addition, several parameter variations were applied in the present study using various sea areas, speeds and three different models for the fatigue strength. The predicted fatigue lives varied from 3 to 6 years. In the results of the spectral analyses, clear differences in fatigue lives were observed between moderate and severe sea areas. This also indicates that defining the environmental conditions of the ship, i.e., sea areas and occurrence probabilities of different sea states, is important in addition to the operational profile of the ship. The predicted fatigue lives are short for the analysed detail. If the true fatigue life is over 20 years, the study indicates that the fatigue strength or the fatigue loading models underestimate the fatigue life. The methodologies in fatigue analysis include rather significant uncertainties, especially in defining the fatigue loading.     

Fatigue tests on grouted connection segment specimens in offshore wind turbine structures considering water ingression

Grouted connections (GCs) are widely used to connect superstructures and driven piles in offshore wind turbine structures. They resist fatigue loading in marine splash zones and even submerged environments. In this paper, six GC segment specimens were designed and tested under fatigue loading in both the air and water ingression conditions. The results in the air condition showed that for the specimens with lower loading ranges, the strain distributions and residual displacements stabilized after 20 thousand load cycles. These conditions persisted until the end of the test with two million cycles, with only a few tiny cracks appearing on the grout material surface. Meanwhile, wide cracks and grout material exfoliation were found in specimens with higher loading ranges. The residual displacement accumulated gradually, which eventually caused the termination of the test when it reached 5 mm after 1.3 million cycles. The results in the water ingression condition showed that the water had entered into the micro-cracks of the grout material, which severely degraded the fatigue behavior of the GC specimens. Even in lower loading ranges, specimens W-1 and W-2 only endured 0.264 million and 64 thousand load cycles before the displacement of the top clamp reached −10 mm. Compared with two specimens tested in the air, with a total displacement of less than −0.7 mm after two million load cycles, the severe deteriorating effect of water ingression on the fatigue behavior of GCs was apparent.     

支线集装箱船整船强度和疲劳有限元分析

在分析UR S11A和S34生效后的集装箱船整船屈服、屈曲要求的基础上,以1艘支线集装箱船为对象,计算得到目标船整船结构各个计算工况下的应力分布,完成整船屈服、屈曲强度评估和疲劳筛选及评估,分析发现支线集装箱船艏、艉非货舱区域结构和货舱区域的横向结构,以及整船重点区域的疲劳问题不容忽视.在设计时,对上述区域结构应重点关...