An integrated approach to fatigue life prediction of whole system for offshore platforms

The failure of one or even more components usually does riot lead to the collapse of the whole structure. Most of the analysis of fatigue is centered on only a single component which the researchers are interested in or Much attention should be paid to. However, the collapse of a structure is the result of failure of a series of components in a specific order or path. This paper proposes an integrated approach to fatigue life prediction of whole structural system for offshore platforms, mainly describing the basic principles and prediction method. A method is presented for determining the failure path of the whole structure system and calculating the fatigue life in the determined failure path, The corresponding final collapse criteria for the whole structure system are discussed, A simple method of equivalent fatigue stress range calculation and a mathematical model of structural component fatigue life estimation in consideration of sea wave and sea ice loads are provided. As an application of the proposed approach, a fixed production platform Bohai No. 8 is chosen for the predication of fatigue life of the whole structure system by means of the software OSFAC developed based on the present methods.