| Abstract: | A method for stochastic fatigue analysis of offshore platforms is presented. The method accounts for the nonlinearity in the drag loading term, and for the systematic deviation from a Gaussian process for a platform response. The method is based on an assumed form of the stress response process at a hot spot. A number of full scale measurements for elements in fixed platforms and for marine risers show very good agreement with this assumed form. A conventional spectral fatigue approach with stochastic linearization of the drag term in the basis for the new method, which uses results from linearizations in two or more sea states. The method is easily implemented in standard computer programs presently used within the offshore oil industry for fatigue analysis. |
