Structural Integrity Assessment of Offshore Jackets Considering Proper Modeling of Buckling in Tubular Members-a Case Study of Resalat Jacket

In the present research,results of buckling analysis of 384 finite element models,verified using three different test results obtained from three separate experimental investigations,were used to study the effects of five parameters such as D/t,L/D,imperfection,mesh size and mesh size ratio.Moreover,proposed equations by offshore structural standards concerning global and local buckling capacity of tubular members including former API RP 2A WSD and recent API RP 2A LRFD,ISO 19902,and NORSOK N-004 have been compared to FE and experimental results.One of the most crucial parts in the estimation of the capacity curve of offshore jacket structures is the correct modeling of compressive members to properly investigate the interaction of global and local buckling which leads to the correct estimation of performance levels and ductility.Achievement of the proper compressive behavior of tubular members validated by experimental data is the main purpose of this paper.Modeling of compressive braces of offshore jacket platforms by 3D shell or solid elements can consider buckling modes and deformations due to local buckling.ABAQUS FE software is selected for FE modeling.The scope of action of each of elastic buckling,plastic buckling,and compressive yielding for various L/r ratios is described.Furthermore,the most affected part of each parameter on the buckling capacity curve is specified.The pushover results of the Resalat Jacket with proper versus improper modeling of compressive members have been compared as a case study.According to the results,applying improper mesh size for compressive members can under-predict the ductility by 33%and under-estimate the lateral loading capacity by up to 8%.Regarding elastic stiffness and post-buckling strength,the mesh size ratio is introduced as the most effective parameter.Besides,imperfection is significantly the most important parameter in terms of critical buckling load.

Structure buckling and non-probabilistic reliability analysis of supercavitating vehicles

To perform structure buckling and reliability analysis on supercavitating vehicles with high velocity in the submarine,supercavitating vehicles were simplified as variable cross section beam firstly.Then structural buckling analysis of supercavitating vehicles with or without engine thrust was conducted,and the structural buckling safety margin equation of supercavitating vehicles was established.The indefinite information was described by interval set and the structure reliability analysis was performed by using non-probabilistic reliability method.Considering interval variables as random variables which satisfy uniform distribution,the Monte-Carlo method was used to calculate the non-probabilistic failure degree.Numerical examples of supercavitating vehicles were presented.Under different ratios of base diameter to cavitator diameter,the change tendency of non-probabilistic failure degree of structural buckling of supercavitating vehicles with or without engine thrust was studied along with the variety of speed.

Stability Analysis of a Multi-holes Shell Under Axial Compression

The paper presents a multi-holes shell with one hundred and eighty circular holes which has been used in engineering. Using a buckling module of the finite element analysis software, stability behavior and destroy mode along geometry parameters are studied. Results show the destroy mode depends on the geometry parameter greatly. Curves of buckling critical load and strength limited load along geometry parameters have a point of intersection. The point implies the multi-holes shell has different destroy mode and the value of point is change in geometry parameters.