Print Email Facebook Twitter Prediction of Fatigue Crack Growth behaviour of tubular joints used in offshore structures Title Prediction of Fatigue Crack Growth behaviour of tubular joints used in offshore structures Author Dratsas, P. Contributor Bijlaard, F.S.K. (mentor) Wardenier, J. (mentor) Abspoel, R. (mentor) Janssen, M. (mentor) Pijpers, R. (mentor) Faculty Civil Engineering and Geosciences Department Structural Engineering Programme Structural and Building Engineering Date 2016-03-10 Abstract The high levels of wind and wave loads on offshore structures make fatigue analysis a significant parameter that has to be taken into consideration throughout an offshore structure design. Steel tubular members are widely used in offshore (wind) industry due to their efficient structural behaviour. The welded connections between the different tubular members are denoted tubular joints and they are the most susceptible locations of the structure to fatigue damage. This study is concentrated on the fatigue crack growth behaviour of tubular joints. The main objective of the thesis is the application of a procedure that predicts the fatigue crack growth behaviour in case of a tubular T-joint under axial load. This procedure relies on the basic formula of fracture mechanics approach during crack propagation (Paris law) and uses simplified geometries to simulate stress field at the vicinity of the crack and fatigue crack growth results from small-scale steel welded specimens to introduce material constants. The validity of the applied procedure is checked by fatigue crack growth tests on a realistic geometry tubular T-joints. Furthermore, the differences in fatigue crack growth behaviour between welded and base material specimens are examined as well as the effect of a single stress tensile peak on welded, base material small-scale specimens and tubular joints. The effects of stress range, stress ration, mean stress and load sequence are also included in this study. Subject steel structuresfatiguefracture mechanicsoverloads To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b626fc12-de40-44ab-bb94-5c68f299cd99 Part of collection Student theses Document type master thesis Rights (c) 2016 Dratsas, P. Files PDF Petros_Dratsas_Master_the ... eport_.pdf 5.46 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:b626fc12-de40-44ab-bb94-5c68f299cd99/datastream/OBJ/view