NUMERICAL STRESS-ANALYSIS FOR FATIGUE EVALUATION OF WELDED TUBULAR T-JOINTS

The stress distribution along the intersection of offshore tubular T-joints under the action of axial and in-plane and out-of-plane (bending) brace loading has been investigated using degenerated shell elements. The ratios of through-thickness membrane to bending stress and bending to total stress have been obtained using a simple linear interpolation between the stresses on the inner and outer surfaces of the tube. The nominal brace stress and the maximum principal stress values have been used for stress concentration factor determination. The influence of thickness and other geometric parameters on the stress distribution along the intersection was investigated in two ways, viz., increasing the chord thickness while maintaining a constant brace thickness, and keeping the chord thickness constant while reducing the brace thickness. Comparison of the shell finite-element results obtained in this study with the semiloof thin-shell finite-element results of the University College, London (UCL), exhibits good agreement. Good agreement exists between the results of this study and the UCL parametric equations for the chord and the brace of the joint, with a maximum difference of about 7% on the braceside around the saddle position. Comparisons between the finite-element results and other known parametric equations for stress concentration factor with different diametral, wall thickness, and chord thickness and ratios also show good agreement. A comparison of the results obtained from the finite-element analysis and the experimental results of the Canadian Cooperative Fatigue Studies Program, carried out at Memorial University of Newfoundland and University of Waterloo, is also made.