Application of controlled weld toe profiles can be considered an option to extend the fatigue life of welded connections when ongoing tankers are converted in dry docks to serve like offshore ships (FPSOs and FSOs). Very slim chances to implement such fatigue improvement will arise when these vessels are in service, since a converted ship is designed to be inspected, maintained and repaired in situ and not in dry dock as it is uneconomical to interrupt production. Codes recognize fatigue life extension by means of a controlled weld toe profile, e.g. [1]. Application of a controlled weld toe profile during conversion in selected areas previously identified by stress analysis of the hull structure can lead to extend the converted vessel fatigue life to comply with an expected field life. The American Bureau of Shipping S-N curves allow a credit of 2.2 on fatigue life when suitable toe grinding and NDE are provided. A controlled weld toe profile can be applied in fatigue crack repaired welds during ship conversion or even on those that during ship conversion are found in a non-cracked condition but were identified prone to fatigue cracking in a stress assessment analysis under in-service conditions. Credit on fatigue life in various codes and results from experimental data obtained from fatigue tested specimens with a controlled weld toe profile are given. Comments on the design of a controlled weld toe profiles and recommendations based on experimental experience for the implementation of equipment to perform a controlled weld toe profile are also given. A Fracture Mechanics approach for the assessment of controlled weld toe profiles for fatigue life extension purposes is described. Initially, a comparison of SCFs for a typical ship hull plate connection with and without weld toe profile control determined by Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is presented. Then, results obtained from the FEA connection such as through plate stress distribution are used in a Fracture Mechanics Analysis to compare the fatigue crack growth curve in as-welded condition to that with controlled weld toe profile.

A crack removal has the purpose to stop crack propagation and prevent future crack reinitiation, thus fatigue life of the component is extended. A profile design for the removal of fatigue cracks that grow under bending loading is presented. The design is based on the preferred shape development of surface defects under bending loading. Preferred shape development of surface defects was experimentally identified and validated with observations previously reported by other authors. The design of a crack removal profile consists on determining a notch geometry and its dimensions to cut out a crack. The crack removal profile presented here induces crack reinitiation, if it would occur, on the surface plate at the notch ends rather than in the bottom of the notch, so original plate thickness is reinstalled for propagation and inspection is easier. This repair procedure is recommended for the removal of fatigue cracks in tubular joints of offshore jackets steel structures.

Fatigue life predictions based on fracture mechanics calculations are required to satisfy an increasing level of safety demanded by industry. These predictions are mainly used to schedule NDT inspections and with inspection data make structural integrity assessments. The periodic inspection-assessment process can lead to the implementation of a fatigue crack repair by crack removal. Fracture mechanics analysis is used again to determine whether or not a repair will be effective. For the case of tubular joints, in offshore structures, once repairs have been shown to be ineffective it is usually required to install a clamp to maintain the continuity of joint members if the structure is still required for production. In this paper a fracture mechanics analysis of crack repaired joints based on Y factors is presented. The analysis is used to predict fatigue life after crack removal and is validated against T-butts experimental data. The analysis is also extrapolated for the prediction of fatigue life of crack repaired tubular joints.