Damage detection in offshore structures using neural networks

This paper discusses the damage detection in offshore jacket platforms subjected to random loads using a combined method of random decrement signature and neural networks. The random decrement technique is used to extract the free decay of the structure from its online response while the structure is in service. The free decay and its time derivative are used as input for a neural network. The output of the neural network is used as an index for damage detection. It has been shown that function N is effective in damage detection in the members of an offshore structure. Experimental studies conducted on a reduced model for a real jacket structure with geometrical scale of 1:30 are used. The applied loads were random loads. Two different load spectra were used: White noise, and Pierson-Moskowitz.     

Dynamic response of offshore jacket structures under random loads

In this paper, the dynamic response of a scale model of a jacket offshore structure is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The experiments were conducted both in air and in water. The in-water experiments were done in the towing tank of Memorial University to simulate the realistic operating conditions. The model was subjected to random wave loads. Froude's law of modeling was used to obtain the dimensions of the scale model based on the dimensions of an existing structure. The effects of varying the structure's weight, and the characteristics of the wave loading were investigated. The structure's weight was changed by adding weights to the structure's deck. A finite element model was designed to determine the dynamic response of the model. Excellent agreement between the experimental and theoretical results was obtained.The reaction force at the foundation was estimated from strain measurements and compared with the finite element calculations. Fair agreement was obtained.This work is the first stage of a project whose objective is to develop a method for structural damage detection using the free vibration response of the structure. The free vibration response will be obtained from the stationary random response of the structure using the random decrement method. Having an accurate model to describe the dynamic response of the structure is the first step in this study.     

Efficient optimization design method of jacket structures for offshore wind turbines

With the gradual implementation of offshore wind energy production, the future tendency is to expand into the deeper water. The jacket foundations will take the place of the present monopile foundations when the water depth increases. The foundations account for the majority of the construction cost for offshore wind farms, and the structural optimization of jackets will bring lucrative economic benefits. Structural optimization is a complex iterative process that requires huge computing costs. Therefore, this paper proposes a structural optimization method based on surrogate models to solve this problem effectively and swiftly obtain optimized design schemes of lightweight jackets for offshore wind turbines. The structural responses of jacket wind turbine systems under the equivalent static extreme loads with a recurrence period of 50 years are mainly considered in structural optimization design, and the key optimization variables of jackets are determined by parameter sensitivity analysis. The finite element models of jackets are transformed into surrogate models, and the genetic algorithm is employed to optimize the surrogate models directly. The optimized jackets are additionally verified through coupled dynamic analysis, besides, buckling strength and fatigue life are also checked. And local refined optimizations are carried out for the failure members. According to the optimized design schemes of lightweight jackets for 30 m, 50 m and 70 m water depths, it is demonstrated that the structural optimization design method is adequate and efficient for jackets of wind turbines. Parameter sensitivity analysis can cut the number of optimization variables in half to improve the optimization efficiency. Furthermore, the application of surrogate models can significantly speed up the optimization process by saving about 98.61% of the original time consumed. The optimization design method of the jackets for offshore wind turbines proposed in this paper is suitable for practical engineering, with high precision and efficiency.     

Crack detection using a frequency response function in offshore platforms

Structural cracks can change the frequency response function (FRF) of an offshore platform. Thus, FRF shifts can be used to detect cracks. When a crack at a specific location and magnitude occurs in an offshore structure, changes in the FRF can be measured. In this way, shifts in FRF can be used to detect cracks. An experimental model was constructed to verify the FRF method. The relationship between FRF and cracks was found to be non-linear. The effect of multiple cracks on FRF was analyzed, and the shift due to multiple cracks was found to be much more than the summation of FRF shifts due to each of the cracks. Then the effects of noise and changes in the mass of the jacket on FRF were evaluated. The results show that significant damage to a beam can be detected by dramatic changes in the FRF, even when 10% random noise exists. FRF can also be used to approximately locate the breakage, but it can neither be efficiently used to predict the location of breakage nor the existence of small hairline cracks. The FRF shift caused by a 7% mass change is much less than the FRF shift caused by the breakage of any beam, but is larger than that caused by any early cracks.     

服役中后期导管架海洋平台结构可靠性评估

为使海洋平台在服役中后期内安全服役,有必要对现役平台进行安全评估.以埕岛海域某服役中后期导管架式海洋平台为例,研究其可靠性变化问题.首先,根据平台状况资料,考虑平台结构的腐蚀、冲刷等损伤随年限增加而变化的情况,建立了反映结构实际动力特性的有限元模型;然后,考虑结构非线性,沿平台的不同方向逐级施加载荷,得到平台的桩顶位移与横向载荷的关系曲线,根据该曲线得出平台不同时间的极限承载力;最后,考虑冰荷载的不确定性,利用Monte-Carlo法研究平台每年的失效概率及可靠度指标,得到可靠度指标随服役年限变化的曲线,进而预测平台结构在未来服役期内的可靠度.     

Strain estimation for offshore wind turbines with jacket substructures using dual-band modal expansion

Structural fatigue is a design driver for offshore wind turbines (OWT). In particular, the substructures, like jackets, are strongly affected by fatigue. Monitoring the fatigue progression in the welds is vital for the maintenance and a potential lifetime extension. However, inspections of critical locations are costly due to the limited accessibility of the mostly submerged jacket. Considering the high number of potentially critical welds, it is regarded as economically unfeasible to equip all fatigue hot spots with sensors. Thus, an indirect method to monitor the fatigue progress of the structure and point out critical locations is desirable. For a consistent support of ongoing maintenance, it has to yield reliable results for varying operational and environmental conditions. This paper applies a virtual sensing approach to jacket substructures. From a small set of sensors on the tower, fatigue at every desired location of the jacket is estimated using dual-band modal expansion. Simulations using the OC4 jacket design are performed to show potentials and limitations of the method. Namely fatigue progress on leg welds of K-joints is predicted with high accuracy over a wide range of load cases. However, some difficulties in fatigue prediction of X-joints due to the occurrence of local modes and limitations in the extrapolation of wave loading have to be resolved in future work.     

导管架管结构凹陷的损伤评估研究

依托黄岩油气田某导管架斜撑受损检测项目,以浅海油气资源开采设备意外受损事故为背景,提出科学的管结构凹陷形貌测绘方法及实施方案。根据测量数据,对受损斜撑进行了结构分析及初步损伤评估,计算凹陷区域的应力集中系数,讨论其对屈服强度及疲劳强度的影响。     

Calculation of wave and current loads on launching offshore jacket

1 Introduction1 It’s very complicated to calculate and analyze the waveand current loads on naval architectures since the seacondition is uncertain and complicated and thedeterminants vary from different form types anddimensions. The induced wave loads o…     

MTMD to increase fatigue life for OWT jacket structures using Powell's method

The Powell's method was developed to determine the optimal stiffness and damping of multi-tuned mass dampers (MTMD) in offshore wind turbine (OWT) support structures under fatigue loads. Numerical examples indicated that the Powell's method results are always better than those using MTMD formulations. With the exception of the blade passing (3P) frequency, it was found in this work that a positive integer (n) multiple of the 3P frequency will also result in a large wind-induced vibration, which can be excited by the frequency of the first structural vertical rotation mode and will cause significant fatigue damage. The first translation mode TMD installed at the tower top is efficient to increase fatigue life at the tower and brace connections, but it cannot reduce fatigue damage at the column and brace connections below the platform. The second translation mode TMD can reduce fatigue damage resulting from large wave loads and thus increase the fatigue life of the braces and columns. The mode-3 TMD with a reduction in the 3(3P) vertical rotation can effectively increase the fatigue life of the braces and columns. Thus, the appropriate use of these TMDs can be effective for the fatigue problem of OWT support structures.     

Detecting damage to offshore platform structures using the time-domain data

A new method that uses time-domain response data under random loading is proposed for detecting damage to the structural elements of offshore platforms. In our study, a time series model with a fitting order was first constructed using the time-domain of noise data. A sensitivity matrix consisting of the first differential of the autoregressive coefficients of the time series models with respect to the stiffness of structural elements was then obtained based on time-domain response data. Locations and severity of damage may then be estimated by solving the damage vector whose components express the degrees of damage to the structural elements. A unique aspect of this detection method is that it requires acceleration history data from only one or a few sensors. This makes it feasible for a limited array of sensors to obtain sufficient data. The efficiency and reliability of the proposed method was demonstrated by applying it to a simplified offshore platform with damage to one element. Numerical simulations show that the use of a few sensors＇ acceleration history data, when compared with recorded levels of noise, is capable of detecting damage efficiently. An increase in the number of sensors helps improve the diagnosis success rate.     

Tail-Equivalent Linearization Method in frequency domain and application to marine structures

An extension of the Tail-Equivalent Linearization Method (TELM) to the frequency domain is presented. The extension defines the Tail-Equivalent Linear System in terms of its frequency-response function. This function is obtained by matching the design point of the nonlinear response with that of the linearized response, thus guaranteeing the equivalence of the tail probability of the latter and the first-order approximation of the tail probability of the nonlinear response. The proposed approach is particularly suitable when the input and response processes are stationary, as is usually the case in the analysis of marine structures. When linear waves are considered, the Tail-Equivalent Linear System possesses a number of important properties, such as the capability to account for multi-support excitations and invariance with respect to scaling of the excitation. The latter property significantly enhances the computational efficiency of TELM for analysis with variable sea states. Additionally, the frequency-response function of the Tail-Equivalent Linear System offers insights into the geometry of random vibrations discretized in the frequency domain and into the physical nature of the response process. The proposed approach is applied to the analysis of point-in-time and first-passage statistics of the random sway displacement of a simplified jack-up rig model.     

Feasibility of modal expansion for virtual sensing in offshore wind jacket substructures

The present paper investigates the feasibility of modal expansion-based virtual sensing in the context of offshore wind jacket substructures. For this specific application, issues have been reported when expanding wind-driven brace vibrations and wave-driven vibrations in the splash-zone based on a sensor network placed solely above the sea level. These limitations are addressed in this paper by extending the sensor network with sub-sea vibration sensors and a wave radar sensor, which allow for capturing local brace vibration modes and the wave-driven vibration response. The brace expansion is thus improved by including the local brace vibration modes in the expansion basis, while the representation of wave-driven vibrations is improved by including load-dependent Ritz vectors computed based on input from the wave radar sensor. The merit of the proposed extension is explored using a numerical model of an offshore wind turbine supported by a jacket substructure in a simulation setting with different operational and environmental conditions. It is documented that the extended setup provides an improvement in the expansion-based estimation of both wind- and wave-driven vibrations. The former improvement is particularly relevant for operational cases, while the latter is relevant for idling cases. Despite the documented improvements, a systematic reduction in the expansion quality is observed for higher wind speeds in operational cases for both the basic and the extended setup. It is contended that this phenomenon is due to the operational variability of the controller, which violates the fundamental assumption of the structural system being linear and time-invariant.     

基于Hilbert-Huang变换的抗冰导管架平台损伤识别研究

渤海海域的抗冰导管架平台每年冬季都会受到海冰作用从而产生严重的冰激振动问题.对冰振危害进行监测与分析是保障冰区现役抗冰平台安全作业和降低冰害损失的重要研究内容.本文针对导管架结构长期处于冰振情况下结构可能存在隐性损伤的问题,采用Hilbert-Huang变换的方法开展结构损伤识别的研究.首先利用通用有限元分析软件ANSYS对冰荷载作用下的导管架平台模型进行瞬态动力学分析,进而对动力响应信号进行Hilbert-Huang变换,得到信号的固有模态函数(IMF)和Hilbert能量边际谱,最后通过结构损伤前后Hilbert能量边际谱的变化构建损伤指标,分析对比不同损伤程度下该损伤指标的有效性,并探讨海冰的冰速、冰厚对该损伤指标的影响.研究工作可以为寒区导管架结构在冰振情况下的损伤识别研究提供借鉴和参考.     

An improved modal strain energy method for damage detection in offshore platform structures

The development of robust damage detection methods for offshore structures is crucial to prevent catastrophes caused by structural failures. In this research, we developed an Improved Modal Strain Energy (IMSE) method for detecting damage in offshore platform structures based on a traditional modal strain energy method (the Stubbs index method). The most significant difference from the Stubbs index method was the application of modal frequencies. The goal was to improve the robustness of the traditional method. To demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed IMSE method, both numerical and experimental studies were conducted for different damage scenarios using a jacket platform structure. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the IMSE method in damage location when only limited, spatially incomplete, and noise-polluted modal data is available. Comparative studies showed that the IMSE index outperformed the Stubbs index and exhibited stronger robustness, confirming the superiority of the proposed approach.     

导管架平台拆除安全性分析

随着海洋石油工业的迅猛发展,废弃海洋平台的拆除问题已成为海洋工程界的研究热点,并得到世界各国该领域的广泛关注．在废弃导管架平台拆除过程中,保证其安全性是非常重要的．本文提出了用于分析导管架平台拆除安全性的危险指标Do和Ds,通过对Do和Ds的各列数据进行比较或对Do和Ds的各行数据做出折线图,可以很容易的得出最安全的桩基切割顺序。     

Development of jacket platform tsunami risk rating system in waters offshore North Borneo

This work details the simulation of tsunami waves generated by seaquakes in the Manila Trench and their effect on fixed oil and gas jacket platforms in waters offshore North Borneo. For this study, a four-leg living quarter jacket platform located in a water depth of 63m is modelled in SACS v5.3. Malaysia has traditionally been perceived to be safe from the hazards of earthquakes and tsunamis. Local design practices tend to neglect tsunami waves and include no such provisions. In 2004, a 9.3M _w seaquake occurred off the northwest coast of Aceh, which generated tsunami waves that caused destruction in Malaysia totalling US$ 25 million and 68 deaths. This event prompted an awareness of the need to study the reliability of fixed offshore platforms scattered throughout Malaysian waters. In this paper, we present a review of research on the seismicity of the Manila Trench, which is perceived to be high risk for Southeast Asia. From the tsunami numerical model TUNA-M2, we extract computer-simulated tsunami waves at prescribed grid points in the vicinity of the platforms in the region. Using wave heights as input, we simulate the tsunami using SACS v5.3 structural analysis software of offshore platforms, which is widely accepted by the industry. We employ the nonlinear solitary wave theory in our tsunami loading calculations for the platforms, and formulate a platform-specific risk quantification system. We then perform an intensive structural sensitivity analysis and derive a corresponding platform-specific risk rating model.     

大型开敞式深水码头导管架结构管节点的疲劳分析

结合大连新港新建30万吨级(兼靠45万t)进口原油码头工程,以导管架结构为研究对象,阐述该结构管节点的疲劳计算方法,并计算开敞式码头导管架结构中管节点的疲劳寿命.结果表明管节点的疲劳寿命满足相应规范的要求,可为实际工程设计提供参考.     

Calibration of safety factors for offshore wind turbine support structures using fully coupled simulations

The offshore wind industry experienced a boost during the last decade in terms of size of wind farms and rated capacity of the wind turbines: towers are getting taller and blades are getting longer, constantly facing new and complex challenges. Because of the relative immaturity of the wind industry, and the fact that the offshore design standards stemmed from the oil and gas industry, it is generally acknowledged that the reliability levels achieved, although not very well understood, might result in partial safety factors not optimal for OWT. This paper addresses this situation by studying the reliability levels delivered by the current standards and assessing the validity of the safety factors through a reliability-based code calibration. The combination of the low probability of failure imposed on the design of OWTs and the computational cost of the aero-elastic time-domain simulations brings out the need to develop new approaches for reliability analyses. In this paper, the reliability analysis is performed using a Kriging surrogate model to approximate the load-effect from the aero-elastic simulations converting expensive-to-evaluate limit state functions to explicit functions. Subsequently, a calibration of the safety factors is carried out using the probabilistic models from literature. The approach is applied to an industry-reference turbine and support structure. The results showed very low probabilities of failure for the most severe design cases and confirm that the safety factors from the IEC are mostly adequate.     

海上导管架采油平台隔振方案与隔振系统参数的优化设计

本文针对海上导管架采油平台的冰激振动问题提出了一种整体隔振方案,通过采用建筑抗震用叠层橡胶支座作为基础隔振元件,对实际平台进行教值仿真分析,模拟出导管架采油平台采用隔振方案后平台冰激振动状态.比较发现采用隔振后平台的振动位移和加速度与隔振前有相当大的改善,同时采用优化算法对平台的静动力响应进行最小化设计,计算出最佳的隔振支座参数.另外本文还对隔振方案的静动力特性进行评价.     

Finite element simplified fatigue analysis method for a non-tubular joint of an offshore jacket platform

This paper proposes the finite element simplified fatigue analysis method for fatigue evaluation of the composite non-tubular joint structure of an offshore jacket subjected to wave loads. The skirt pile sleeve of the offshore jacket, which had been in service, was taken as an example of the non-tubular joint structure. SACS software was used for global analysis of multi-directional wave loads for the jacket platform, and ALGOR software was used to build a finite element model, perform finite element analysis, post-process stress results for acquiring the stress range, and perform fatigue evaluation. The analysis results indicate that the extreme stress range is within the allowable stress range and meets the requirements of DNV code. That means the simplified fatigue analysis method is effective and can be used in fatigue design for the non-tubular joint structure of an offshore jacket.