An experimental study of wave-in-deck loading and its dependence on the properties of the topside structure

This paper concerns the largest and arguably the most threatening wave loading component experienced by a broad range of offshore structures. It arises when an incident wave crest exceeds the elevation of the underside of the deck structure, leading to direct wave-in-deck (WID) loading. The extent of this loading may be limited to the partial submergence of some of the lowermost deck beams, or could involve the large-scale inundation of the entire deck area. Either way, very large loads can arise which must be taken into account when assessing the reliability of the structure. In an earlier contribution Ma and Swan (2020) provided an extensive laboratory study exploring the variation of these loads with the properties of the incident wave. The present paper describes a second stage of this experimental study in which the variation of the WID loads with the properties of the topside structure is addressed. Specifically, it considers the porosity, position and orientation of the topside relative to the incident wave conditions, and seeks to explore both the variations in the maximum load and the loading time–history resulting from these changes.Given the highly transitory nature of a WID loading event, coupled with the fact that the problem is governed by flow conditions at, or very close to, the instantaneous water surface, the loading process is driven by an exchange of momentum from the wave crest to the topside structure. A recently developed WID load model, based on exactly these arguments (Ma and Swan 2020), is used alongside the laboratory data to provide a break-down of the load into its component parts. This provides an enhanced physical understanding of the resulting load time–history. The first part of the study is based upon an idealised generic topside structure, allowing a systematic variation in key parameters, particularly porosity. The second part addresses a realistic topside structure demonstrating the practical relevance of earlier work. Taken together, the analysis clearly establishes the importance of the topside porosity, clarifies the spatial effects associated with the evolution of a large ocean wave beneath the plan area of a structure and explains the unexpected occurrence of impact-type loading on topside structures having a high porosity. Most importantly, the paper highlights those properties of a topside structure which must be incorporated if the WID loads are to be accurately predicted.     

Required test durations for converged short-term wave and impact extreme value statistics–Part 2: Deck box dataset

In the assessment of wave-in-deck loads for new and existing maritime structures typically model tests are carried out. To determine the most critical conditions and measure sufficient impact loads, a range of sea states and various seeds (realisations) for each sea state are tested. Based on these measurements, probability distributions can be derived and design loads determined. In air gap model testing usually only few, if any, impact loads occur per 3-hour seed. This can make it challenging to derive reliable probability distributions of the measured loads, especially when only a few seeds are generated. In addition wave impact forces, such as greenwater loading, slamming, or air gap impacts are typically strongly non-linear, resulting in a large variability of the measured loads. This results in the following questions: How many impacts are needed to derive a reliable distribution? How is the repeatability of individual events affecting the overall distribution? To answer these questions wave-in-deck model tests were carried out in 100 x 3-hour realisations of a 10,000 year North Sea sea state. The resulting probability distributions of the undisturbed wave measurements as well as the measured wave-in-deck loads are presented in this paper with focus on deriving the number of seeds and exposure durations required for a reliable estimate of design loads.The presented study is Part 2 of a combined study on guidance for the convergence and variability of wave crests and impact loading extreme values. The data set of Part 1 ([1]) is based on greenwater loads on a sailing ferry and the data set of Part 2 on wave-in-deck loads on a stationary deck box.     

主管受拉K型管节点抗冲击性能有限元研究

偶然荷载引起的撞击会造成海洋平台中的管桁架严重损伤,尤其是管节点的破坏,严重时会导致整个平台的损坏,因此管节点是海洋平台设计研究中的一个重要内容.本文以海洋平台中常见的K型管节点为研究对象,利用有限元软件ABAQUS研究了3个主管在受拉状态下的K型管节点的抗冲击性能.在研究过程中以几何参数和荷载参数为主要变量,分析了各相关参数对管节点的抗冲击性能的影响.确定了K型管节点在冲击荷载作用下的破坏模态.在对冲击力、位移、能量耗散等时程曲线的分析中揭示了抗冲击性能工作机理.研究结果表明:支主管的径厚比以及支管的拉压状态对管节点所受到的最大冲击力和节点变形具有较显著的影响.     

Response-based extreme value analysis of moored offshore structures due to wave, wind, and current

Floating moored offshore structures have a significant future in offshore operations as an attractive economic alternative to fixed structures in deep waters and/or in areas where there is no existing infrastructure. This paper describes an analysis procedure based on the structure variable approach to estimate load and response values of a moored offshore platform at a given return period by taking into account the joint occurrence of wave, wind, and current. The results show that the most severe mooring loads may not occur when wind, wave, and current are collinear and are at their maximum design values, i.e., the 50- or 100-year case. It is recommended that the extreme mooring design loads for moored offshore systems should be determined through a range of physical or numerical simulations where wave, wind, and current are noncollinear and act with less severe magnitudes than the 50- or 100-year case. This recommendation has also been adopted in the ITTC/Ocean Engineering Committee recommendations to the ITTC Conference held in September 1996.     

Required test durations for converged short-term wave and impact extreme value statistics — Part 1: Ferry dataset

For the design of maritime structures in waves, the extreme values of responses such as motions and wave impact loads are required. Waves and wave-induced responses are stochastic, so such responses should always be related to a probability. This information is not easy to obtain for strongly non-linear responses such as wave impact forces. Usually class rules or direct assessment via experiments or numerical simulations are applied to obtain extreme values for design. This brings up questions related to the convergence of extreme values: how long do we need to test in order to obtain converged statistics for the target duration? Or, vice versa: given testing data, what is the uncertainty of the associated statistics? Often the test or simulation duration is cut up in ‘seeds’ or ‘realisations’, with an exposure duration of one or three hours based on the typical duration of a steady environmental condition at sea, or the time that a ship sails a single course. The required number of seeds for converged results depends on the type of structure and response, the exposure duration, and the desired probability level. The present study provides guidelines for the convergence of most probable maximum (MPM) wave crest heights and MPM green water wave impact forces on a ferry. Long duration experiments were done to gain insight into the required number of seeds, and the effect of fitting. The present paper presents part 1 of this study; part 2 [1] presents similar results for wave-in-deck loads on a stationary deck box.     

Efficient methods to mitigate SCR-induced walking of short subsea flowlines

Steel catenary riser is a long-established option for subsea projects in deep-water regions. Sustained pulling force of steel catenary risers on subsea flowlines in combination with cyclic thermal load throughout the system lifetime may lead to progressive global axial displacement of subsea pipelines which has been termed as ‘walking’. One of the challenges in the deep-water industry is long-term walking of subsea flowlines in a cumulative manner. Common practice methods for walking mitigation are quite expensive operations. State-of-the-art mitigation strategies are proposed in the paper by means of modifying pipe pieces before the installation operation. Bowed pipe pieces and miter joints are two recommended approaches for walking mitigation. The presented mitigation strategies are relatively cost-effective solutions for the pipe-walking challenge and they are able to considerably cease the potential cyclic walking. Comprehensive FE analyses in ABAQUS software are performed to evaluate the proposed deformed pipelines response subject to two loading conditions. Through-life integrity of the suggested pre-deformed pipeline is assessed in terms of effective axial force, local buckles and excessive axial strains. A comparison of the presented method with conventional techniques shows the effectiveness of the proposed configuration. The proposed methods can significantly reduce effective axial force throughout the subsea pipeline by means of artificially introduced deformations. The cumulative walking of the presented method is practically zero. In addition, the influence of combined triggering mechanisms to the walking phenomenon is assessed when the pipeline is located on a sloping seabed and it is subject to non-uniform thermal loads. A parametric study is performed to improve confidence in design and provide a reasonably practical technique with an optimal shape.     

Some aspects of the structural design of a mat foundation for various soil conditions

There are several important structural design parameters in the analysis of a mat type structure for a jackup mobile offshore drilling unit. These consist of dimensions for the mat, soil foundation types, and structural loads. Methods for determining the proper dimension of the mat structure, modeling the structure and its loading cases, modeling the soil conditions and a method for identifying critical load cases for each element and load case is presented. By using a database approach for the finite element output for all of the various loading cases, a rational approach is presented which solves the problem of sorting and analyzing all of the elements and load cases, ensuring that all are included and none of the critical cases are missed.     

A computational approach for fatigue crack propagation in ship structures under random sequence of clustered loading

The authors have developed a simulation program, CP-System, for multiple cracks propagating in a three-dimensional stiffened panel structure, where through-the-thickness crack propagation is formulated as a two-dimensional in-plane problem, and the crack propagation behavior is simulated by step-by-step finite element analyses. In order to evaluate the fatigue lives of marine structures accurately, it is necessary to take into account the load histories induced by sea waves, which may be composed of a random sequence of certain clustered loads with variable stress range. In the proposed crack growth model, the crack opening and closure behavior is simulated by using the modified strip yielding model, and the effective tensile plastic stress intensity range, ΔK _RP, is calculated by considering the contact of plastic wake along the crack surfaces. The adequacy of the proposed crack growth model is examined by comparison with fatigue tests under non-constant-amplitude loading. The usefulness of the developed method is demonstrated for a ship structural detail under certain simulated load sequences. It is shown that the fatigue crack growth of a ship structure is significantly retarded due to the load interaction effects, so that the conventional method for fatigue life assessment may predict a relatively conservative fatigue life of a structure.     

Dynamic ice loads for offshore wind support structure design

For offshore wind farms which are planned in sub-arctic regions like the Baltic Sea and Bohai Bay, support structure design has to account for load effects from dynamic ice-structure interaction. There is relatively high uncertainty related to dynamic ice loads as little to no load- and response data of offshore wind turbines exposed to drifting ice exists. In the present study the potential for the development of ice-induced vibrations for an offshore wind turbine on monopile foundation is experimentally investigated. The experiments aimed to reproduce at scale the interaction of an idling and operational 14 MW turbine with ice representative of 50-year return period Southern Baltic Sea conditions. A real-time hybrid test setup was used to allow the incorporation of the specific modal properties of an offshore wind turbine at the ice action point, as well as virtual wind loading. The experiments showed that all known regimes of ice-induced vibrations develop depending on the magnitude of the ice drift speed. At low speed this is intermittent crushing and at intermediate speeds is ‘frequency lock-in’ in the second global bending mode of the turbine. For high ice speeds continuous brittle crushing was found. A new finding is the development of an interaction regime with a strongly amplified non-harmonic first-mode response of the structure, combined with higher modes after moments of global ice failure. The regime develops between speeds where intermittent crushing and frequency lock-in in the second global bending mode develop. The development of this regime can be related to the specific modal properties of the wind turbine, for which the second and third global bending mode can be easily excited at the ice action point. Preliminary numerical simulations with a phenomenological ice model coupled to a full wind turbine model show that intermittent crushing and the new regime result in the largest bending moments for a large part of the support structure. Frequency lock-in and continuous brittle crushing result in significantly smaller bending moments throughout the structure.     

海洋工程安装驳船设计要点分析

为了满足不同海上操作工作的需要,海洋工程驳船需要满足一些特殊要求,如稳性、总体和局部强度、锚泊设施、压载系统等,这些要求在规范上并未详细覆盖,但是对于海上安装操作以及保证货物完整性非常重要。文中试图通过总结相关海洋工程标准要求,并凭借历史经验就这些规范要求以外的因素予以讨论,包括海洋工程安装中对于船体稳性的特殊要求,船体总强度的考虑,工况选择以及锚泊系统,压载系统的基本要求等。     

On Impact mechanics in ship collisions

The purpose of this paper is to present analytical, closed-form expressions for the energy released for crushing and the impact impulse during ship collisions. Ship–ship collisions, ship collisions with rigid walls and ship collisions with flexible offshore structures are considered. The derived mathematical models include friction at the contact point so that situation where the collision results in a sliding motion is included. Results obtained by application of the present procedure are compared with results obtained by time simulations and good agreement has been achieved. In addition, a number of illustrative examples are presented. The procedure presented in the paper is well suited for inclusion in a probabilistic calculation model for damage of ship structures due to collisions.     

Numerical assessment of explosion resistant profiled barriers

Profiled blast barriers are an integral part of offshore topsides where they are required to protect personnel and safety critical equipment against the effects of a possible hydrocarbon explosion. Limited studies on their response have been presented, particularly at high overpressures. This paper presents a numerical study using finite element analysis to investigate the response of stainless steel profiled barriers subjected to hydrocarbon explosions. By examining three profiles of varying depth (deep, intermediate and shallow) commonly used in offshore topside structures, the criteria governing their behaviour are highlighted. The static capacity and the dynamic response of the barriers are established up to the maximum capacity level and into the post peak or buckling response regime. The parameters that were found to have profound effects on the analyses include imperfections, boundary conditions and modelling assumptions. Through this study, recommendations and guidelines of using finite element analysis for the design or analysis of such explosion resistant barriers are given.     

A simplified method for nonlinear failure analysis of stiffened plates

This paper shows that the application of pre-determined failure equations, derived from nonlinear finite element analyses, is effective in determining failure of structural components in a simpler linear finite element analysis. An analysis method is presented which is called simplified failure analysis. The first step of this method is the nonlinear determination of a component's failure limit. Next, a linear coarse-meshed finite element model of the component is analyzed under the failure load determined in the previous step. The resulting linear stress distribution is a ‘representative failure stress’ for the component because it is in equilibrium with the applied failure load. This ‘failure stress’ is then used in simpler linear analysis to provide a representative failure limit. This method is verified by an analysis of a structural grillage.     

Assessment of offshore structures under extreme wave conditions by Modified Endurance Wave Analysis

Recently, various approaches have been introduced to estimate the response of offshore structures in different sea states by stepwisely intensifying records. In this article, a more practical approach entitled Modified Endurance Wave Analysis (MEWA) considering the random and probabilistic nature of wave loading and utilizing optimal time duration is introduced. Generation procedure of this approach is described based on two practical wave theories: random and constrained new-wave. In addition, assessment of a simplified model representing a typical fixed offshore platform under extreme wave conditions in the Persian Gulf is performed making use of MEWA. A comparative analysis has been also carried out to investigate the accuracy and computational costs of MEWA. The results indicate that MEWA can be a time-saving and also reliable method both in design and assessment of offshore platforms.     

海洋平台中KK管节点表面裂纹应力强度因子的有限元计算方法

海洋平台中的KK管节点由于长期承受循环载荷而容易在焊缝处产生疲劳表面裂纹.对包含表面裂纹的KK节点的残余寿命的评估依赖于对表面裂纹应力强度因子的准确估算.本文首先提出了KK节点中表面裂纹的有限元网格产生方法,然后采用线弹性断裂力学理论,通过裂纹前缘的位移外推插值法分析了KK节点在轴向力作用下沿着表面裂纹的应力强度因子的分布情况.最后,通过对22个KK节点的模型分析,研究了节点的几何参数和裂纹形状参数对应力强度因子的影响情况.     

上游静止柱体对圆柱体结构尾激振动的影响

文章运用半隐式特征线分裂算子有限元算法对串列布置的静止上游柱体和下游圆柱的尾激振动问题进行了数值模拟研究。数值结果表明:上游柱体结构的形状、尺寸比(d/D)和折减速度(Ur)三个参数对下游圆柱体结构的动力响应、运动轨迹与涡脱落模态有着显著的影响,且与单圆柱工况相比存在明显区别;随着尺寸比的增大,上/下游柱体结构之间的互扰作用会由流致效应逐渐转变为尾流效应,使得频率特性发生变化,并会导致下游圆柱体结构的振动响应增强;当d/D=0.5和1.0时,下游圆柱体结构的运动轨迹主要为“8”字形;当d/D=1.5时,除了“8”字形外,运动轨迹还会呈现双弯刀形、“双8”字形和不规则形状。通过对流体力系数与位移时程曲线及位移PSD曲线特性进行分析,揭示了其相互作用的内在机理。另外,下游圆柱体结构的尾流场特性也会随参数的变化而变化,其涡脱落模态主要为2S、P+S和2P三种。     

近海结构疲劳计算中波浪与结构建模探讨

文章根据作者已提出的基于海况频度分布的统计分类及非线性动力学计算的疲劳评估方法,通过进一步改进波浪能的输入,提出了一种更为有效的计算方法。通过将这一方法运用到一典型导管架结构的疲劳计算,文中首先研究了波浪方向对疲劳破坏的影响,进而分析了波浪谱中若干重要参数及HHT-α时间积分中步长对疲劳计算结果的影响。通过对结构反应的统计研究,发现海况的恶劣程度并不直接影响结构响应非高斯趋势的显著程度。文中提出的方法在减少不确定性的同时又不降低安全标准,有效提高了疲劳计算的精确度,从而可以降低相关近海结构建设和维护成本。文中的计算方法已被成功地应用于北海及墨西哥湾数座近海结构在风和波浪荷载作用下的疲劳评估。     

Experimental investigation of structural system capacity with multiple fatigue cracks

Few experimental data sets exist in the literature to support the development and evaluation of digital twins predicting structural degradation. The literature is especially sparse for system tests where multiple failures occur and interact. In this work, a laboratory-level experiment is conducted to mimic many of the properties of larger and more complex marine structures with redundant load paths, failure interaction, and component-to-system level integration. In the experiment, such properties are reflected by a hexagon tension specimen with four propagating fatigue cracks tested under displacement-controlled loading. The applied loading cycles and corresponding crack lengths are recorded as the major time-varying data of degradation, with the resisting force at maximum extension used as the system capacity. A novel computer vision method is used to measure the crack length. Strain gauges are also used to monitor the structure’s status. The experimental data is presented and analyzed in this paper. The resulting data sets can be used to evaluate the performance of different digital twin updating approaches.     

Prediction of slamming pressure considering fluid-structure interaction. Part II: Derivation of empirical formulations

This is Part II in a series of papers. Part I [1] investigated the slamming responses of flexible flat stiffened steel and aluminum plates using the nonlinear explicit finite element code LS-Dyna with the Multi-Material Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (MMALE) solver. Subsequently, a simplified finite element FSI model of water hitting structures that is realistically close to the slamming phenomenon occurring on the bottom part of offshore structures was proposed. The proposed FSI methodology presented in Part I was verified by comparison with the relevant test data. It was evident that the use of the proposed numerical method presented in Part I was very effective for a benchmarking investigation of slamming load considering the hydroelastic effect. However, the method required much effort in terms of computation time and power analysis resources. The present study, Part II, aimed, as an alternative to the FSI analysis approach, to develop empirical formulae for prediction of slamming loads acting on deformable flat stiffened plates used in marine applications. This paper begins by describing the limitations of the existing approaches based on theoretical, experimental and even numerical studies conducted in the past for estimation of slamming loads. Next, it presents, based on the simulation methodology developed in Part I, rigorous parametric studies that had been performed on actual scantlings of marine-seagoing structures. The effects of structural geometry and water impact velocity on slamming pressure are then investigated in detail. Subsequently, the parametric results are analyzed and utilized to derive empirical formulations for the prediction of slamming loads acting on flat stiffened plates of marine structures. The accuracy and reliability of the proposed formulations are established by comparison with the results of the test and other existing formulations. The proposed formulations are expected to be used for the purposes of the design without any time-consuming FSI analysis of advanced and optimal structures that are robust to slamming.     

Structural behavior and design of high-strength steel welded tubular connections under extreme loading

The present work is motivated by the increasing need for cost-efficient solutions in offshore structural systems for wind energy production and for improvement of their structural performance. The structural behavior and design of high-strength steel welded tubular connections (yield strength higher than 700 MPa) subjected to monotonic and strong cyclic loading is investigated. In the first part of the paper, an experimental investigation is presented on high-strength steel tubular X-joints subjected to monotonic and cyclic loading far beyond the elastic limit of the material, leading to weld fracture. Two grades of weld metal material are employed in the welding process of the specimens. The experimental results indicate that the weld material grade has a significant influence on the deformation capacity of the welded connection under monotonic loading conditions, and its low-cycle fatigue life. The experimental procedure is simulated using advanced finite element models, elucidating several features of joint behavior and complementing the experimental results. Overall, a good agreement is found between numerical simulations and experimental results, in terms of both global response and local strains at the vicinity of the welds. Furthermore, the structural performance of the welded tubular joints under consideration is assessed using available design methodologies in terms of both ultimate strength and low-cycle fatigue resistance, in an attempt to validate an efficient design methodology for low-cycle fatigue. The results from this research effort are aimed at developing the necessary background for the possible use of high-strength steel in tubular steel lattice structures, particularly in offshore platforms for renewable energy production. They can also be used as a basis for the possible amendment of relevant design specifications and recommendations for including special provisions for high-strength steel structural systems.