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Weld toe stress concentrations in multi-planar stiffened tubular KK joints

โœ Scribed by C.O. Woghiren; F.P. Brennan


Book ID
103831395
Publisher
Elsevier Science
Year
2009
Tongue
English
Weight
772 KB
Volume
31
Category
Article
ISSN
0142-1123

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โœฆ Synopsis


This paper reports a parametric stress analysis of various configurations of rack plate stiffened multi-planar welded KK joints using the finite element method. The KK joint finds application in the leg structure of offshore oil and gas jack-up platforms. The rack plate works as a stiffener which reduces the stress concentration at the brace/chord intersection. This could be an immense contribution to the increase in fatigue life of the joint, but other hot spot sites are introduced into the joint. The rack is also used for raising and lowering of the jack-up hull which gives the jack-up platform its jacking capability. Over 120 models using a combination of shell and solid elements have been built and analysed with ABAQUS. Non-dimensional joint geometric parameters (b, c and X) are employed in the study, with the new parameter X being defined as the ratio of rack thickness to chord diameter. Stress concentration factors (SCFs) are calculated under applied axial and OPB (out-of-plane bending) loading. Three critical SCF locations are identified for each load case, with each location becoming the most critical based on the combination of the nondimensional parameters selected for the joint. This is important as careful design can shift the critical SCF from an area inaccessible to NDT to one that can be easily inspected. The SCF values extracted from the models are used to derive six parametric equations through multiple regression analysis performed using MINITAB. The equations describe the SCF at the different locations as a function of the non-dimensional ratios. The equations not only allow the rapid optimisation of multi-planar joints but also can be used to quickly identify the location of maximum stress concentration and hence the likely position of fatigue cracks. This in itself is an invaluable tool for planning NDT procedures and schedules.


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โœ M.M.K Lee ๐Ÿ“‚ Article ๐Ÿ“… 1999 ๐Ÿ› Elsevier Science ๐ŸŒ English โš– 348 KB

Single sided welds commonly used for connecting braces to chords in tubular joints for offshore structures are known to have failed from cracks initiated at the root of the weld. There is currently no common industry standard to assess the fatigue performance of single-sided welds and hence guidelin