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.