A recommended practice for design of titanium risers is currently being developed as part of Det Norske Veritas’ series of standards and recommended practices for offshore structures. A recommendation is given herein for characteristic S-N curves for use in design of titanium risers against fatigue failure. As a basis for this recommendation, a set of statistical analyses of available fatigue test data have been carried out. Separate analyses have been carried out for base material and welds. The analysis results have been interpreted with respect to mean S-N curves as well as 97.7% lower tolerance bounds with 95% confidence. Characteristic S-N curves for base material and welds, which are not non-conservative with respect to these tolerance bounds, have been proposed. The paper presents the assumptions, the test data, the statistical analyses and their results, and the proposed characteristic S-N curves. The areas of application of the proposed curves are discussed with a particular view to stress range interval, material grade, weld position, temperature, and defect size.
Calibration of design fatigue factors for offshore structures based on fatigue test database
