Offshore Platform T-node Stress Distribution

Fatigue failure is one of the most common failure types for welded tubular joints under cyclic loads in their severe service environment of offshore engineering. Generally, the fatigue life of tubular joints can be estimated by referring to S-N curve method which depends on the accurate prediction of stress concentration factor (SCF) and stress distribution for tubular joints under general load conditions. The parametric equations for the stress distribution are deficient, and all of them were derived from the shell elements so the precision is suspected.In this study ,numerical modeling will be carried out for the analysis of the stress concentration factors of tubular T-joint subjected to axial, in-plane and out-of plan loading, and the effect of the weld on the stress concentration factor of T-joint will be considered. 20-node quadratic solid elements will be used to model the whole structure. Such elements can be used to model the weld accurately. Then the effect of the weld can be considered accordingly. Sub-zone mesh generation method is used in the numerical modeling. The whole structure is divided into several zones. After that, the mesh of each zone is generated separately. This method can control the mesh quality easily. After the mesh of each zone is generated, the mesh of the whole structure can be obtained by merging the mesh of all the zones. Thereafter, the magnitude and the distribution of the stress concentration factors along the weld toe for tubular T-joints subjected to axial, in-plane and out-of plan loadings are analyzed using ABAQUS software. Finally, through the FE analysis of 816 models, the effects of geometrical parameters on the stress concentration factor values and their distribution are investigated.Based on the results of the FE analysis of T-joints, the parametric equations of the maximal SCF of the chord and brace for T-joints subjected to axial, in-plane and out-of plan loadings have been presented. Error analysis of these parametric equations has also been conducted. Then the results of parametric equations of the maximal SCF are used to derive parametric equations of the stress distributions around the weld intersection for T-joints. Comparisons have also been made of the results for the stress distribution equations with the tested data as well as other previously published equations. Throughout the analysis, it has been found that the proposed parametric equations can provide accurate estimation for the SCF distribution of T-joints in a validity range.