Design of Offshore Oil/Gas Platforms against Ship Impacts

Offshore platforms have become increasingly important to the oil and gas industry. As part of normal operating activities they are repeatedly visited by heavy vessels. This makes the rig vulnerable to collisions from these vessels. Estimating the possible ship collision damage is important in the safety and integrity assessment of a platform and also for its repair and maintenance. This book deals with the structural behaviour of tubular members of offshore structures subjected to ship collision. It covers both quasi-static and dynamic impact loadings and considers different approaches such as closed form analytical solutions. A relatively sophisticated dynamic experimental modelling and numerical simulation of the impact have also been employed to address the problem. The interaction of the existing axial load in the tubular member and the lateral impact has been thoroughly reviewed. Response of large-scale tubular frames to lateral impacts and the phenomenon of dynamic shakedown and response adaptation have also been addressed. The book is aimed at the practicing professional, but can also serve as a graduate level text for inelastic design of tubular structures.