In this research, the estimation of the fatigue life of a semi-submersible floating offshore wind platform is considered. In order to accurately estimate the fatigue life of a platform, coupled aerodynamic-hydrodynamic simulations are performed to obtain dynamic stress values. The simulations are performed at a multitude of representative environmental states, or “bins,” which can mimic the conditions the structure may endure at a given site, per ABS Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Installation guidelines. To accurately represent the variety of wind and wave conditions, the number of environmental states can be of the order of 10 3 . Unlike other offshore structures, both the wind and wave conditions must be accounted for, which are generally considered independent parameters, drastically increasing the number of states. The stress timeseries from these simulations can be used to estimate the damage at a particular location on the structure by using commonly accepted methods, such as the rainflow counting algorithm. The damage due to either the winds or the waves can be estimated by using a frequency decomposition of the stress timeseries. In this paper, a similar decoupled approach is used to attempt to recover the damages induced from these coupled simulations. Although it is well-known that a coupled, aero-hydro analysis is necessary in order to accurately simulate the nonlinear rigid-body motions of the platform, it is less clear if the same statement could be made about the fatigue properties of the platform. In one approach, the fatigue damage equivalent load is calculated independently from both scatter diagrams of the waves and a rose diagram of the wind. De-coupled simulations are performed to estimate the response at an all-encompassing range of environmental conditions. A database of responses based on these environmental conditions is constructed. The likelihood of occurrence at a case-study site is used to compare the damage equivalent from the coupled simulations. The OC5 platform in the Borssele wind farm zone is used as a case-study and the damage equivalent load from the de-coupled methods are compared to those from the coupled analysis in order to assess these methodologies.

Current standards (as an example, DNV-OS-E301[1] and API-RP-2SK[2]) do not account for mean load in the fatigue assessment of mooring chains. Both standards, provide S-N curves derived from experimental work without specifying the mean load for which they have been obtained or proposing a mean load correction function. This paper reports a fatigue analysis study of mooring chains under Tension Loading using a multiaxial fatigue criterion for two different mean loads. Multiaxial fatigue criteria enable to account directly for complex phenomena, such as residual stresses, non-proportionality of the stress tensor, among others. This paper presents an example of the implementation of the Dang Van fatigue criterion for studying the fatigue behavior of mooring chains under tension. It quantifies the effect of the mean load on the fatigue lifetime and the failure location. Furthermore, it also proposes a simplified approach to reduce the complexity and the computational time of the fatigue analysis using Dang Van fatigue criterion. The paper is organized as follows: in the first part an example of the fatigue assessment is reported. Two different loading conditions with the same load amplitude but different mean loads are studied. The assessment method is based on two steps: a mechanical analysis and a fatigue analysis. In the second part, a simplified fatigue assessment method is proposed. As part of this method, a ratio between the fatigue lifetimes of two loading conditions, which have the same load amplitude but different mean load, is formulated. This ratio has been obtained analytically using the geometric representation of the Dang Van fatigue Criterion. Finally, the paper ends with a discussion, based on recent works, regarding the formulation of the locus of the Dang Van criterion and the fatigue properties used for the calibration of this criterion.

The new generation of value-added low carbon-low manganese-niobium microalloyed structural steels for both low and high yield strength, energy absorption, fatigue and fracture resistant applications is under development for offshore and arctic materials engineering applications. These materials engineering considerations are shifting designers to consider new lower cost and more robust construction materials even for low yield strength applications require improved fatigue, fracture arrest and toughness performance. The civil engineering and end user community demand structural reinforcing bars, shapes, beams and plates with improved energy absorption and fatigue properties. With more severe climatic conditions evolving every day, demands also necessitate improved fire and seismic resistance, yield-to-tensile ratio consistency, improved bendability and weldability. These attributes are difficult to obtain from steel producers today with their current higher carbon microalloyed steel approaches and hot rolling practices. There is a global shift in motion to low C-Nb-Mn bearing construction steels displacing traditional materials. The technological and metallurgical advancements of value-added niobium (Nb) microalloyed thermo-mechanical controlled process (TMCP) plate steels have been further developed to meet more demanding fatigue, fracture and low temperature toughness end user requirements. Niobium enables achievement of substantial grain refinement and grain size uniformity when the plate is rolled with the proper reduction, thermal schedule and process metallurgical operational practices. The effects of microalloying elements on the continuous cooling transformation behavior must be carefully controlled during the process metallurgy of the reheating and rolling process to successfully achieve the desired mechanical properties. TMCP applications have been successfully developed in numerous product sectors with thickness exceeding 120 mm. Since the very fine grained microstructure improves toughness and increases the yield strength, this Nb-TMCP process enables the required tensile properties with the growing trend to leaner chemical composition designs (less than 0.10%C) and excellent toughness properties. From an operational cost perspective, in today’s very competitive market environment, there exists a huge opportunity for structural offshore and arctic plate producing steel mills to improve their profitability by thoroughly assessing a shift to lower carbon and manganese steels in their product mix. Through the adoption of these lower carbon Nb-containing structural materials, several design and/or manufacturing companies are initiating new offshore steel designs that will further provide improved overall lifetime and cost performance at reduced maintenance expense. These high strength plate steels offer the opportunity to manufacture complex heavy-lift and fatigue-critical components for larger offshore structures without increasing the weight of the platforms.

Fatigue assessments are a central component of subsea well system analysis and are essential in understanding overall well system performance. In recent years there has been an increased focus on understanding fatigue in well systems. This focus has taken on many forms — a broad industry JIP, technical studies by individual operators, development of a variety of technologies for subsea instrumentation and monitoring and case studies implementing this technology. An overarching objective of all these efforts is to clarify some of the complexity that is inherent to well system fatigue. As with any analysis, well system fatigue analysis benefits from appropriately defined inputs. These inputs affect both sides of the analysis equation — loading considerations and resistance considerations. A majority of the efforts to date have examined loading considerations. Inputs such as metocean criteria and soil properties can have a dramatic impact on the analysis results. Accurate characterization of these inputs is desired, though often difficult to achieve. As a result, large safety factors are often employed to provide a margin against this uncertainty. Often overlooked, however, is the resistance half of the assessment, particularly the accurate characterization of fatigue hotspots such as welds and connectors. Conservative analysis of hotspots is frequently employed as these components are not amenable to inspection, however the conservative assumptions can result in non-realistic assessment of fatigue performance. This paper presents some additional considerations for minimizing the uncertainty in well system fatigue analysis, through thorough materials characterization and design analysis, focusing on connector hotspots. The information presented is representative of actual considerations utilized for ExxonMobil projects. Fatigue performance is improved through finite element characterization of the connector design and “hand picking” component match-ups to minimize the resulting stress amplification. Attention to the total life fatigue properties, including experimental assessment of the material used, is needed to provide an accurate representation of fatigue performance. Finally, in the absence of this information, mitigation of fatigue risks can be obtained by displacing fatigue hotspots.

Enabling safe and reliable operations of subsea wellheads has a high priority in the global oil and gas industry. The objective of the current paper is to provide a novel method for bending moment estimates at the wellhead based on indirect moment measurements; this moment, together with fatigue properties are then used for fatigue damage estimation. Indirect bending moments are based on inclinations and accelerations measured by motion reference units (MRU) attached to blowout preventer (BOP), lower marine riser package (LMRP) and lower riser joint (LRJ) immediately above the lower flexible joint (LFJ). Also, required is the tension time history in the same period at the LRJ. The proposed methodology here can be implemented and integrated into a portal for data acquisition and visualisation. In order to validate the proposed method for indirect bending moment estimation, strain gages have been attached to a BOP and marine riser during drilling operations offshore Norway. Strain gage readings are transformed to bending moment which is used as reference (the so-called direct moment). The proposed method is used to calculate the moment indirectly, the so-called indirect moment. The resulting indirect moments agree very well with the direct moments.

The most important issue associated with liquefied natural gas storage systems, such as LNG carriers, LNG FPSO and FLNG, is the structural safety. One of the most common materials for the LNG storage systems has been 9% nickel steel over the last 50 years as it has excellent mechanical properties under cryogenic temperature. Recently, the consideration for lowering the nickel content becomes necessary due to the increase of the nickel price and the high price of nickel based welding consumables. In this respect, 7% nickel steels are developed for cryogenic applications. Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metals Corporation have developed 7% nickel steels with improved toughness comparable to that of 9% nickel steels by TMCP and micro-alloying technology. The major objective of this study is to evaluate the fatigue performance of 7% nickel steels with a special attention to Type B LNG carrier applications. Cyclic fatigue and fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) tests for 7% nickel steels were conducted at room and cryogenic temperature. Fatigue tests were carried out with three types of specimens such as base metal, butt weld and fillet weld to characterize the fatigue properties. Also FCGR tests were carried out using compact tension specimens. The difference of FCGR characteristics among base, weld and HAZ (Heat Affected Zone) are investigated for three types of specimens. The results of 7% nickel steels are evaluated and compared with those of 9% nickel steels.

API X80 grade UOE double submerged arc-welded pipe has been applied to steam injection oil sand recovery systems to increase the volume of steam to be injected and decrease the installation cost. The pipes for the systems are subjected to high temperature for a long period, such as 350 °C for 20 years. Therefore, it is important to ensure the reliability of the pipes during and after long-term operation. In this study, based on the recent development of high-frequency electric-resistance-welded (HFW) linepipe with a high-quality weld seam, the durability of newly developed API X80 grade HFW linepipe for long-term high-temperature operation was investigated. The change in the microstructure of the pipe body and weld seam was small after exposure to 400 °C and lower temperatures. The tensile strength of the base metal and weld seam after heat treatment with temperatures as high as 400 °C can be determined using the Larson-Miller parameter, which depends on the temperature and holding time of the heat treatment. The newly developed API X80 grade HFW linepipe was considered to have sufficient tensile strength during and after long-term operation at 350 °C for 20 years, similar to API X80 grade UOE pipe. No significant change in the Charpy absorbed energy during long-term heating was observed. Creep tests indicated that the time to rupture at 400 °C or lower exceeded 10 6 hours, and the creep effect was considered almost negligible at temperatures less than 400 °C. The rupture stress at approximately 350 °C was estimated to be far higher than the typical hoop stress of approximately 200 MPa on the steam distribution system. High-temperature fatigue properties were also measured to ensure reliability under varying stress conditions.

For many years, fatigue design has been based on the fundamental that the fatigue strength of welded structures is independent of the steel material and/or strength. Nothing has been studied from the viewpoint of material because fatigue strength of welded joints converges much to the same capacity regardless of material strength. For improvement of fatigue lives, the designers have been advised to improve the geometry of the details, to reduce the nominal stress level or to use some post weld improvement method like toe grinding. In 2001, a new steel material was developed that showed extended fatigue initiation life as well as extended crack growth life, and a new alternative method for fatigue life extension appeared. This steel was denoted FCA (Fatigue Crack Arrester) due to the improved fatigue properties. The improved fatigue strength in welded joints is explained by flat hardness distribution and very fine microstructure at heat affected zone (HAZ). It was clarified that fatigue strength of HAZ in FCA where fatigue crack initiates generally was higher than that in conventional steel. And the improved fatigue crack propagation properties in base steel is explained by a decreased crack growth rate when a fatigue crack passes a grain boundary from a soft phase (feritte) to a hard phase (bainite) that is present in these new dual phase steels. FCA steel has now been used for details of a number of newly built ships, where good fatigue properties are required. In order to establish a general design S-N curve that can be used for the FCA steel, it was agreed in 2007 to start a joint industry project among Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation, Det Norske Veritas and Sumitomo Metal Industries. This JIP is now being finished and a design S-N curve has been proposed based on 66 data from small scale testing of specimens made from FCA steel, and 18 data from conventional steel. These test results have been supplemented by some large scale tests of relevant ship details. The discussed results from this JIP including a recommended design S-N curve for FCA steel will be shown in this paper.

Aluminum alloys are among the most promising materials for manufacture of drill pipes for deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling in corrosive environment. Aluminum drill pipes are made with steel tool-joints to increase the number of connection makings-and-breakings. One of the major concerns of aluminum drill pipe operation in deepwater complex profile wells is the fatigue of their connection. This paper presents the results of study of fatigue properties of aluminum alloy 1953T1 Light Alloy Drill Pipes of Improved Dependability (LAIDP) 147×13 mm that are most extensively used in Russia. During assembly, the pin and box of steel tool-joint are heated and screwed on the tubular ends. After cooling, this assembly provides a reliable permanent connection. The study includes experimental determination of the S-N curve of small-scale specimens of aluminum tubular, FEA of the connection with the SCF determined and fatigue testing of the full-scale LAIDP connection. FEA is based on 3D model. The material properties of tubular are modeled as elastic-plastic. The distribution of hot-assembly stresses is considered in detail. Alternating bending load is applied by several semi-cycles. The results of analysis of Stress Concentration Factor (SCF) at various axial loads, bending moment ranges, friction factors of contact surfaces and interference of connection are given. Full-scale fatigue testing of connection specimen is carried out to verify the results of analysis.

Dynamic subsea power cables are used for distribution of electric power to subsea units for oil and gas production and for power distribution from offshore wind mills. As the cables are suspended from the sea level to sea floor, a dynamic analysis is normally required to ensure that the cables are able to withstand the dynamic tension and bending caused by waves and vessel movements. The fatigue property of a conductor is determined by the mechanical properties of the individual wires and stress concentration caused by wire interaction. Previous publications on steel wires and ropes have brought light on the effect of R-ratio and wire interaction such as fretting and inter wire slippage. For copper conductors the complexity of fatigue is multiplied by the fact that the individual wires have a nonlinear stress-strain behavior well below the defined yield stress limit and poor creep properties below maximum cable operation temperatures. Moreover, the interaction between the wires is determined not only by the contact between copper surfaces but also by the water blocking compound in between the wires normally required for subsea cables. A test method, simulating the fatigue mechanism in a dynamic power cable, including the effect from friction, fretting, creep properties of copper and high tension at deep waters is presented together with test results for a representative conductor.

H 2 S is reported to degrade the fatigue properties of C-Mn steels with a factor of 10–20 in life, while clad pipes are reported to have a performance close to or as good as in air. Clad pipes could therefore be used in highly fatigue loaded parts of the riser to facilitate design of steel catenary risers (SCRs) that are connected to floaters in deep waters. A literature survey of high quality girth welds intended for SCR is included in this paper and compared with fatigue test data obtained in this project. The first nine full scale 15" clad pipe girth welds out of a program of 24 specimens are fatigue tested in a high frequency resonance test rig and reported. The pipes were tested as welded, hammer-peened and reeled. The 15" OD steel pipes with 316 cladding tested in this work were surplus pipes from the Norne pipeline project. The fatigue test pipes were fabricated using the same welding procedure and welding facilities at Technip’s spool base in Orkanger, Norway, as the Norne pipeline project. The Norne pipeline is the world’s first reeled clad pipeline. The objective of this work was to test premium quality girth welds with best possible fatigue performance in actual pipes under realistic conditions was. The effect of hammer-peening of the OD was therefore investigated. Post failure examination was performed to determine the type and size of defects at the fatigue crack initiation site.

The effect of repeated plastic strain on the mechanical properties of reeled super duplex tube used in the construction of umbilical riser systems is assessed. The impact of typical plastic strain cycles on the fatigue properties of tubing, mechanical properties of the tubing and the susceptibility of hydrogen embrittlement of the tubing has been investigated. There is evidence that plastic strain cycles have an effect upon the fatigue life of the tube; which can be attributed to a low cycle fatigue mechanism. There is no evidence that plastic strain cycling to specified limits has an effect upon the susceptibility of the material to Hydrogen Induced Stress Cracking (HISC) and typical plastic strain cycles have no degenerative effect upon the mechanical properties of super duplex tube and radial welds.

Heavy duty girth welded tubulars are used for many critical structural members offshore, e.g. free spanning pipelines, risers and tethers. The fatigue properties of those girth welds are often the design limiting factor. Today’s fatigue design rules for girth welded tubulars are mainly based on testing of segment specimens machined from a girth weld. Such specimens do strictly speaking not simulate all the features of a complete girth weld in a tubular. Lately some data have become available from rotating bending of full scale tubulars. However data from axial loading of full scale tubulars are rare. In this study full scale (OD 24”, 609.6 mm, thickness 0.812”, 20.6 mm) girth welded tubulars were fatigue tested in axial tension. Each tubular specimen contained three girth welds, equalling almost 6 m of weldment for each test. Both as-welded, TIG-dressed and ground weldments were included in the test program. The fracture surfaces were inspected for determination of the initiation point and its relation to welding flaws. The test results are compared to common fatigue design curves. The significance of embedded weld flaws in ground welds and the relationship to S-N curves for ground welds is discussed.

The fatigue crack problems that broke out at the end of the twentieth century were fatigue crack properties in hull structures. This motivated research on a lot of technologies against fatigue fracture. It was clarified that the detection of fatigue crack initiation in complex welded structures like hulls is quite difficult, and that the crack length at recognition is mostly long compared to mechanical parts. From these research results, not only stress reduction at critical areas by improvement in design but also newly developed materials with excellent resistance to fatigue crack growth has been desirable for structural integrity. The newly developed structural steel, in which fatigue crack growth resistance is controlled by microstructures, will be introduced in this report. Various fatigue properties of the base steel plates in air and in synthetic sea water are compared. And the fatigue life extension effects by FCA is observed in fatigue tests of welded joints and welded structural models.

The fatigue crack problems that broke out at the end of the twentieth century were fatigue crack properties in hull structures. This motivated research on a lot of technologies against fatigue fracture. It was clarified that the detection of fatigue crack initiation in complex welded structures like hulls is quite difficult, and that the crack length at recognition is mostly long compared to mechanical parts. From these research results, not only stress reduction at critical areas by improvement in design but also newly developed materials with excellent resistance to fatigue crack growth has been desirable for structural integrity. The newly developed structural steel, in which fatigue crack growth resistance is controlled by microstructures, will be introduced in this report. Various fatigue properties of the base steel plates in air and in synthetic sea water are compared. And the fatigue life extension effects by FCA is observed in fatigue tests of welded joints and welded structural models.

The development of finite element analysis, in terms of simulation power and theoretical model accuracy, enables one to understand and simulate industrial processes more precisely, especially those involving non linear behaviour and analysis. Reeled pipe technology is one of these, and has a lot to gain from this increasing efficiency. In the reel-lay process the pipe is first reeled onto a drum on a vessel for transportation. During offshore installation the pipe is unreeled, straightened and deployed into the sea. During the process, the pipe is fully and cyclically plastified. Plastification modifies the pipe properties, which is not by itself detrimental but should be understood by the designer. Pipe properties are affected in three ways: geometrical shape – reeling and straightening induce some residual ovalisation; mechanical properties – yield stress, hardening slope, isotropy are modified; and fatigue properties. Technip and IFP have studied these property evolutions for many years, both from an experimental and a numerical point of view. The present paper discusses the first two points. A wide experimental programme has been performed. Full scale pipes were reeled and straightened on a bending rig device especially built for that purpose. Pipe ovalisation was monitored through the whole process. Pipe mechanical properties were also fully characterised in the pipe axial, hoop and thickness directions, both in tension and compression, before and after reeling process. Extruded and UOE pipes were tested and characterised. Pipe initial properties are dependent on the manufacturing process but they are modified by the reeling process. Reeling induces some anisotropy that cannot be properly accounted for by usual plasticity models. Finite element simulations with Abaqus software, using the material behaviour of unreeled pipe, underestimate stiffness evolution in the hoop direction and overestimate ovalisation induced by the reeling process. Anisotropy has indeed a great effect on ovalisation that results from an interaction between axial and hoop loading. Hardening is also a key parameter. A new plasticity model has been written in an Abaqus User Material Model, known as UMAT. The new model is based on an anisotropic Hill criterion and special attention is paid to the hardening. This new model reduces by more than two the error on ovality estimation, and gives a realistic prediction of material anisotropy evolution through the process. Although, the tuning of the model coefficients is more complex than for usual models, its use is quite straightforward and does not increase computation time.