Non-destructive method for assessing safety of offshore structures

Asset integrity management requires knowledge of current and future structural loading, the current damage in the material, and the ultimate state of the material. To understand all of these topics, TNO is investing in an asset integrity management ‘toolbox.’ Loading is accounted for with new sensors and techniques to analyze the results. Material damage is assessed with traditional fatigue crack growth analysis or with a much less conservative method, which accounts for the order in which loading cycles have been applied. Furthermore, TNO is investigating how corrosion and fatigue interact in offshore environments in order to better account for both the initiation and propagation of cracks in steels in offshore structures. Finally, in order to know the end of the fatigue life, it is necessary to know how long a fatigue crack can be before an unstable fracture could occur. Toward that end, TNO has created modelling software the can help to assess fracture mechanics. Notably, that software can use fundamental principles to transfer the results from one fracture mechanics situation to another, thus potentially allowing for one set of tests to represent the many different scenarios that can occur throughout a complex structure. Transferring minimally destructive fracture testing to a situation that is relevant for real structures is just one application for the theory that served as the basis for this software. The current article is a detailed look at one of several research projects TNO has been doing on the fundamental and applied aspects of asset integrity management of offshore structures.

WALTERS Carey;  DUVALOIS W;  BRUCHHAUSEN Matthias;  LAPETITE Jean-Marc; 

2016-12-14

PENNWELL CORP.

JRC103136

0030-0608,   

http://www.offshore-mag.com/articles/print/volume-76/issue-11/european-supplement/non-destructive-method-for-assessing-safety-of-offshore-structures.html,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC103136,