• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.149-167
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• 2004

Offshore platforms have to serve in harsh environments and hence are likely to be damaged due to wave induced fatigue and environmental corrosion. Welded tubular joints in offshore platforms are most vulnerable to fatigue damage. Such damages endanger the integrity of the structure. Therefore it is all the more essential to assess the capacity of damaged structure from the point of view of its safety. Eight internally ring stiffened fatigue damaged tubular joints with nominal chord and brace diameter of 324 mm and 219 mm respectively and thickness 12 mm and 8 mm respectively were tested under axial brace compression loading to evaluate the reserve capacity of the joints. These joints had earlier been tested under fatigue loading under corrosive environments of synthetic sea water and hence they have been cracked. The extent of the damage varied from 35 to 50 per cent. One stiffened joint was also tested under axial brace tension loading. The residual strength of fatigue damaged stiffened joint tested under tension loading was observed to be less than one fourth of that tested under compression loading. It was observed in this experimental investigation that in the damaged condition, the joints possessed an in-built load-transfer mechanism. A bi-linear stress-strain model was developed in this investigation to predict the reserve capacity of the joint. This model considered the strain hardening effect. Close agreement was observed between the experimental and predicted results. The paper presents in detail the experimental investigation and the development of the analytical model to predict the reserve capacity of internally ring stiffened joints.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.18 no.6 s.61
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• pp.70-78
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• 2004

In order to increase the load carrying capacity of tubular structures, the joints of tubular members are usually reinforced with various reinforcement system. A stiffening method with internal ring stiffeners is effectively used for the steel tubular joint with a large diameter. In this study, the behavior of internally ring-stiffened tubular T-joints subjected to axial loading is assessed. For the parametric study, nonlinear finite element analyses are used to compute the static strength on non-stiffened and ring-stiffened T-joints. Based on the numerical results, an internal ring stiffener is found to be efficient in improving the static strength. The influence of geometric parameters has been determined, and the reinforcement effect are evaluated. Based on the FE results, regression analises are performed considering the practical size of ring stiffener. Finally strength estimation formulas for ring-stiffened tubular T-joints are proposed.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.315-320
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• 2007

An effective reinforcement method for steel tubular joints having a large chord diameter is the use of internal ring stiffeners. This paper presents the results of a numerical study on the static strength of internally ring-stiffened tubular X- and T-joints subjected to brace axial compression loading. Nonlinear finite element analyses are used to compute the joint strength. The influence of geometrical parameters has been studied and the maximum reinforcement effect of a ring stiffener has been evaluated. A strength ratio is defined. by the ratio of ring-stiffened joint strength to unstiffened joint strength, and an equation for this strength ratio is derived by regression analysis. Design optimization for ring stiffener of tubular joints is carried out using metropolis genetic algorithm.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.321-331
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• 2003

The paper presents the results of an experimental investigation conducted on welded tubular joints, that are employed in offshore platforms, to study the behaviour and strength of these joints under axial brace compression loading. The geometrical configuration of the joints tested were T and Y. The nominal diameter of the chord and brace members of the joint were 324 and 219 mm respectively. The chord thickness was 12 mm and the brace 8 mm. The tested joints are approximately quarter size when compared to the largest joints in the platforms built in a shallow water depth of 80 m in the Bombay High field. Some of the joints were actually fabricated by a leading offshore agency which firm is directly involved in the fabrication of prototype structures. Strength of the internally ring-stiffened joints was found to be almost twice that of the unstiffened joints of the same configuration and dimensions. Bending of the chord as a whole was observed to be the predominant mode of deformation of the internally ring-stiffened joints in contrast to ovaling and punching shear of the unstiffened joints. It was observed in this investigation that unstiffened joint was stiffer in ovaling mode than in bending and that midspan deflection of unstiffened joint was insignificant when compared to that of the internally ring stiffened joint. The measured midspan deflection of the unstiffened joint in this investigation and its relation with the applied axial load compares very well with that predicted for the brace axial displacement by energy method published in the literature. A comparison of the measured deflection and ovaling of the unstiffened joint was made with that published by the author elsewhere in which numerical prediction of both quantities have been made using ANSYS software package. The agreement was found to be quite good.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.145-150
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• 2002

Tubular joints having a large diameter in the offshore structure are reinforced using internal ring stiffener in order to increase the load carrying capacity. In this study, the static strengths of internally ring-stiffened tubular T-joints subjected to compressive brace loading are assessed. Nonlinear finite element analyses are used to compute the behavior of unstiffened and ring-stiffened T-joints. From the numerical results, internal ring stiffener is found to efficient in improving the ultimate capacity, and reinforcement effect are calculated. The influence of geometric parameters for members and ring is evaluated. Based on the FE results, regression analysis is performed considering practical sizes of ring stiffener, finally strength estimation formulae for ring-stiffened T-joints are proposed.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.533-540
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• 2002

Tubular joints having a large diameter are reinforced using internal ring stiffener in order to increase the load carrying capacity. In this study, the static strengths of Internally ring-stiffened tubular T-joints subjected to compressive brace loading are assessed. Nonlinear finite element analyses are used to compute the behavior of unstiffened and ring-stiffened T-joints. From the numerical results, Internal ring stiffener is found to efficient in improving the ultimate capacity, and reinforcement effect are calculated. The influence of geometric parameters for members and ring is evaluated. Based on the FE results, regression analysis is performed considering practical sizes of ring stiffener, finally strength estimation formulae for ring-stiffened T-joints are proposed.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2022

The majority of tubular joints commonly found in offshore jacket structures are multi-planar. Investigating the effect of loaded out-of-plane braces on the values of the stress concentration factor (SCF) in offshore tubular joints has been the objective of numerous research works. However, due to the diversity of joint types and loading conditions, a number of quite important cases still exist that have not been studied thoroughly. Among them are internally ring-stiffened two-planar TT-joints subjected to axial loading. In the present research, data extracted from the stress analysis of 243 finite element (FE) models, verified against available numerical and experimental data, was used to study the effects of geometrical parameters on the chord-side SCFs in two-planar tubular TT-joints reinforced with internal ring stiffeners subjected to two types of axial loading. Parametric FE study was followed by a set of nonlinear regression analyses to develop six new SCF parametric equations for the fatigue analysis and design of axially-loaded two-planar TT-joints reinforced with internal ring stiffeners.