Stress Concentration Factors of Dented Rigid Risers

Abstract

Rigid risers are widely employed in the offshore industry nowadays, assuming the vertical (riser tower) or catenary (steel catenary riser, SCR) configurations. During operation, these structures undergo dynamic loads generated by the action of currents and waves. Rigid risers can also be subjected to collision from neighboring vessels or impact of heavy objects launched from them, resulting in the introduction of defects. The possibility of a fatigue failure must be addressed since these defects induce high localized stresses in the damaged section. The aim of this work is to evaluate the stress concentration induced by plain dents on rigid risers under combined dynamic bending and constant tension loads. A finite element model is developed to reproduce denting and spring back processes and estimate the stress concentration on the dented riser under combined bending and tension loads. The model is used in a parametric study to evaluate stress concentration factors (SCFs) for varying dimensions of dents and risers. Analytical formulae are developed considering the results from the parametric study to estimate SCFs of dented risers, which can be used in a theoretical fatigue life study, modifying standard S-N curves, and help to forewarn a fatigue failure.