Fatigue analysis of offshore platforms subject to sea wave loadings

The fatigue damage calculation for random loading on offshore platforms takes the form of a rainflow analysis of the dynamic response of individual members to various sea states. This procedure is lengthu and consequently this paper attempts to provide a theoretical method for determining random load fatigue damage. This dynamic response for many joints leads to a broad band random loading but despite this, previous theoretical methods have simplified the loading to narrow band. This has not been done in the present case; instead, an analysis based on broad band random loading has been produced. This theoretical approach gives a fatigue life estimate which is slightly (6.6%) more conservative, for a typical example, than a rainflow analysis.     

A relative crack opening time correlation for corrosion fatigue crack growth in offshore structures

A considerable amount of research has been carried out on the prediction of mean stress effects on fatigue crack growth in structures. Newer types of structure are now being developed for use in highly dynamic, harsh marine environments, particularly for renewable energy applications. Therefore, the extent to which mean stresses can enhance corrosion‐assisted fatigue damage in these structures needs to be better understood. A new theoretical model that accounts for mean stress effects on corrosion fatigue crack growth is proposed. The model is developed based on the relative crack opening period per fatigue cycle and by considering only the damaging portion of the stress cycle. The baseline data for the modelling exercise are the data obtained at a stress ratio of 0.1 in air and seawater tests conducted on compact tension specimens. The model is validated by comparison with experimental data and with other fatigue crack propagation models. The proposed model correlates fairly well with experimental data and the other models examined.     

A model of corrosion fatigue crack growth in ship and offshore steels

A model describing corrosion fatigue crack growth rate da/dN has been proposed. The crack growth rate is assumed to be proportional to current flowing through the electrolyte within the crack during a loading cycle. The Shoji formula for the crack tip strain rate has been assumed in the model. The obtained formula for the corrosion fatigue crack growth rate is formally similar to the author's empirical formulae established previously. The different effects of ΔK and the fatigue loading frequency f on da/dN, in region I as compared to region II of the corrosion fatigue crack growth rate characteristics can be described by a change of one parameter only: the crack tip repassivation rate exponent.     

Predicting the fatigue life of offshore structures by the single-moment spectral method

The dependence of fatigue damage accumulation on power spectral density (psd) is investigated for Gaussian random processes representing stresses in offshore structures. This involves extensive computer simulation of representative stress time histories and related analyses to predict the time of fatigue failure. The recently introduced single-moment (SM) spectral method is shown to be very attractive for predicting fatigue failure. The SM method predicts the damage accumulation rate based only on a single calculation from the psd curve (a moment integral). The accuracy of the SM method and of other spectral methods is studied by comparing results with ones calculated from the much more expensive alternative of using simulated stress time histories, rainflow analysis, and Palmgren-Miner calculations.The SM method is shown to be even simpler than most spectral methods, and all spectral methods are much simpler than any method involving simulation of stress time histories. The accuracy of the SM method is shown to be quite good for a wide variety of situations. Furthermore, there are situations in which the SM method is significantly more accurate than other simple spectral methods, including the very commonly used Rayleigh approximation.It appears that the SM method may provide a valuable tool for predicting the fatigue life of offshore structures subject to complicated time histories of loading, as is required both in the design of new structures and in the reassessment of aging structures. In order to allow a proper balance between fatigue life and initial cost, there is a need for a fatigue prediction method which is both accurate and easy to apply, and the SM method appears to be adequate on both bases.     

The fatigue crack growth of a ship steel in seawater under spectrum loading

Fatigue crack growth of ABS EH36 steel under spectrum loading intended to simulate sea loading of offshore structures in the North Sea was studied using fracture mechanics. A digital simulation technique was used to generate samples of load/time histories from a power spectrum characteristic of the North Sea environment. In constant load-amplitude tests, the effects of specimen orientation and stress ratio on fatigue crack growth rates were found to be negligible in the range 2 × 10^?5 to 10^?3 mm/cycle. Fatigue crack growth rates in a 3.5% NaCl solution were two to five times faster than those observed in air in the stress intensity range 25 to 60 MPa √m. The average fatigue crack growth rates under spectrum loading and constant-amplitude loading were in excellent agreement when the fatigue crack growth rate was plotted as a function of the appropriately defined equivalent stress intensity range. This procedure is equivalent to applying Miner's summation rule in fatigue life calculations.     

On the interaction between corrosion and fatigue which determines the remaining life of bridges

This paper studies the prior effect of corrosion on fatigue on the growth of cracks that arise from natural corrosion in steel bridges. It is shown that these 2 effects need to be simultaneously analysed. If not, then the resulting life is not conservative. This paper presents a simple methodology for performing this coupled analysis.     

The effect of pitting corrosion on fatigue life

Fatigue testing of pre‐pitted 2024‐T3 aluminium alloy specimens is performed in laboratory air at 22 °C and 40% RH to characterize the effect of pitting corrosion on fatigue life. Specimens, pre‐corroded in a 0.5 M NaCl solution from 48 to 384 h, have fatigue lives that are reduced by more than one order of magnitude after 384 h pre‐corrosion as compared to those of uncorroded specimens. The reduction in fatigue life is interpreted in terms of the influence of the time of exposure to the corrosive environment or pit size. The crack‐nucleating pit sizes, ranging from 20 to 70 μm, are determined from post‐fracture examinations by scanning electron microscopy. Fatigue lives are estimated using a fracture mechanics approach and are shown to be in good agreement with the actual data. A probabilistic analysis shows that the distribution of fatigue life is strongly correlated to the distribution in nucleating pit size.     

Fatigue life prediction of engineering structures subjected to variable amplitude loading using the improved crack growth rate model

It is a difficult task to predict fatigue crack growth in engineering structures, because they are mostly subjected to variable amplitude loading histories in service. Many prediction models have been proposed, but no agreed model on fatigue life prediction adequately considering loading sequence effects exists. In our previous research, an improved crack growth rate model has been proposed under constant amplitude loading and its good applicability has been demonstrated in comparison with various experimental data. In this paper, the applicability of the improved crack growth rate model will be extended to variable amplitude loading by modifying crack closure level based on the concept of partial crack closure due to crack‐tip plasticity. It is assumed in this model that the crack closure level can instantly go to the peak/valley due to a larger compression/tensile plastic zone resulted from the overload/underload effect, and gradually recovers to the level of constant amplitude loading with crack propagation. To denote the variation in the affected zone of overload/underload, a modified coefficient based on Wheeler model is introduced. The improved crack growth rate model can explain the phenomena of the retardation due to overload and the tiny acceleration due to underload, even the minor retardation due to overload followed by underload. The quantitative analysis will be executed to show the capability of the model, and the comparison between the prediction results and the experimental data under different types of loading history will be used to validate the model. The good agreement indicates that the proposed model is able to explain the load interaction effect under variable amplitude loading.     

Effects of non-proportional loading paths on the orientation of fatigue crack path

Fatigue crack path prediction and crack arrest are very important for structural safety. In real engineering structures, there are many factors influencing the fatigue crack paths, such as the material type (microstructure), structural geometry and loading path, etc. In this paper, both experimental and numerical methods are applied to study the effects of loading path on crack orientations. Experiments were conducted on a biaxial testing machine, using specimens made of two steels: 42CrMo4 and CK45 (equivalent to AISI 1045), with six different biaxial loading paths. Fractographical analyses of the plane of the stage I crack propagation were carried out and the crack orientations were measured using optical microscopy. The multiaxial fatigue models, such as the critical plane models and also the energy‐based critical plane models, were applied for predicting the orientation of the critical plane. Comparisons of the predicted orientation of the damage plane with the experimental observations show that the shear‐based multiaxial fatigue models provide good predictions for stage I crack growth for the ductile materials studied in this paper.     

The effects of saline aqueous corrosion on fatigue crack growth rates in 316 grade stainless steels

A study of fatigue crack propagation rates of 316 grade stainless steels in air and in an aqueous saline environment was carried out in an attempt to assess the fatigue properties encountered when such materials are used as surgical implants. The effects of variables such as temperature, pH, oxygenation level, bulk electrode potential, mean stress, frequency and stress waveform on the Paris crack growth law parameters were determined. Corrosion fatigue effects were observed in the aqueous saline environment, and a mechanism to describe this effect is proposed.     

A numerical analysis of constraint effects in fatigue crack growth by use of an irreversible cohesive zone model

The analysis of constraint effects in fatigue crack growth in multi-layer structures is discussed. The process of material separation under cyclic loading is described by a cohesive zone model (CZM) with an irreversible constitutive relationship. The traction–separation behavior does not follow a predefined path, but is dependent on the evolution of the damage dependent cohesive zone properties. A modified boundary layer model is used in simulations of fatigue crack growth along the centerline crack of the metal layer sandwiched between two elastic substrates. Fatigue crack growth is computed for a series of values of metal layer thickness under constant and variable amplitude loading conditions. The results of the computations demonstrate that certain combinations of load magnitude, layer thickness and material properties results in significant constrain effects in fatigue crack growth. The influence of these constraint effects on fatigue crack growth rates and on crack closure processes is determined. The evolutions of the traction–separation law, the accumulated and current plastic zones, as well as the stress fields during the crack propagation are discussed.     

Bifurcation analysis of the Hobson short fatigue crack growth law

A bifurcation analysis of the Hobson short fatigue crack growth law is presented. The analysis reveals that, although the growth law is non‐linear, it contains no bifurcation points.     

Review of the mathematical background to the development of realistic load histories for fatigue testing relevant to tubular structures in the North Sea

Following the discovery of oil and gas, fixed welded tubular steel platforms were first installed in the North Sea in 1966. They are subjected to significant fatigue loads due to wave action. A report on proposed standard load histories was published in 1976. These were based on theoretical calculations. In 1979, increasing interest led to the formation of the Wave Action Standards History (WASH) Working Group. Strain gauge data for platforms in the North Sea were made available to the Working Group so later standard load histories were based on service data rather than theoretical calculations. Mathematical techniques used are reviewed, and some load histories are described as case studies. A framework was developed that could be used to formulate a particular standard load history but left open the option of incorporating alternative features, with relatively little additional work.     

Corrosive fatigue of structures with dimple holes under spectrum loading

ABSTRACT Experimental investigation and life prediction are made for structures with straight holes and dimple holes in both laboratory ambient conditions and 3.5% NaCl solution under spectrum loading. With the aid of acoustic emission, label loading and fractography technique, the crack‐growth data are obtained in both environments. Stress‐intensity factors for the corner crack emanated from the dimple hole are evaluated by three‐dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) method. Life prediction of the tested structures is made by using the modified FASTRAN‐II code on the basis of corresponding fatigue crack‐growth rate curves. It is shown that once the initial defect size a₀ is determined by one set of test data, it can be used together with the 3D crack‐growth method in order to provide accurate life prediction in alternative structure and loading condition. By comparison, life prediction by the traditional local strain method is also made which is shown to be less reliable than the 3D crack‐growth method.     

Fatigue crack growth analysis of a reinforced cylindrical shell under random loading

In this paper, fatigue crack growth analysis and reliability evaluation of a reinforced cylindrical shell subjected to random loading have been studied. At first, random loading is extracted from an experimentally obtained power spectral density curve. Then, stress analysis of the shell is carried out using Abaqus ® (ABAQUS Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA) standard code with the aid of a shell‐to‐solid submodelling technique, and the critical positions susceptible of crack nucleation are determined. Then, the fatigue crack propagation is simulated three‐dimensionally in these regions using the Zencrack ^® software (Zentech International Ltd, London, UK), and the fatigue life and reliability are calculated using the central limit theory. For the evaluation of fatigue life of the full‐scale structure, a procedure of fatigue crack growth and linking up of the two adjacent cracks emanating from critical rivet holes is outlined under random cyclic loading. Using stochastic analysis, closed‐form relations are derived for the probability of failure and reliability.     

Influence of foreign object damage on fatigue crack growth of gas turbine aerofoils under complex loading conditions

Foreign object damage (FOD) has been identified as one of the main life limiting factors for aeroengine blades, with the leading edge of aerofoils particularly susceptible. In this work, a generic edge ‘aerofoil’ geometry was utilized in a study of early fatigue crack growth behaviour due to FOD under low cycle fatigue (LCF), high cycle fatigue (HCF) and combined LCF and HCF loading conditions. Residual stresses due to FOD were analyzed using the finite element method. The longitudinal residual stress component along the crack path was introduced as a nodal temperature distribution, and used in the correction of the stress intensity factor range. The crack growth was monitored using a nanodirect current potential drop (DCPD) system and crack growth rates were correlated with the corrected stress intensity factor considering the residual stresses. The results were discussed with regard to the role of residual stresses in the characterization of fatigue crack growth. Small crack growth behaviour in FODed specimens was revealed only after the residual stresses were taken into account in the calculation of the stress intensity factor, a feature common to LCF, HCF and combined LCF + HCF loading conditions.     

Fatigue strength of small-notched specimens under variable amplitude loading within the fatigue limit diagram

Although the fatigue limit diagram is defined in principle for constant stress amplitude, it is often considered that fatigue failure would not occur, even in varying loading, if applied stresses were kept within the fatigue limit diagram. However, it was shown in the case of small‐notched specimens that fatigue failure occurred in some special cases of variable amplitude loading, even when all stress amplitudes were kept within the fatigue limit diagram. The cause of this phenomenon was examined using two‐step stress and repeated two‐step stress patterns in which the first step stress was chosen to be equal to the fatigue limit with zero mean stress and a mean stress was superposed on the second step stress. A non‐propagating crack was formed by the first step stress. This crack functioned as a pre‐crack for the second step stress with high mean stress. Consequently, fatigue failure occurred even when all stress amplitudes were kept within the fatigue limit diagram. It was an unexpected fracture caused by the interference effect of a non‐propagating crack and a mean stress change.     

Can pure mode III fatigue loading contribute to crack propagation in metallic materials?

The possibility of pure mode III crack growth is analysed on the background of theoretical and experimental results obtained in the last 20 years. Unlike for modes I and II, there is no plausible micromechanistic model explaining a pure mode III crack growth in ductile metals. In order to realize 'plain' mode III fracture surface, we propose the propagation of a series of pure mode II cracks along the crack front. Fractographical observations on crack initiation and propagation in a low alloy steel under cyclic torsion support such a model. The authors have not seen any clear indication of a pure mode III crack growth micromechanism in metals until now.