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Chapter 1 – Engineering Offshore Structures

Duty Holder is responsible for safety & the CNC (Criteria of Non-Conformance)
& those risks are reduced to being: As low as reasonably practicable (ALARP)
Pipelines – Made from high grade steel (API-5LX) made up in 40ft (12.0m) lengths
Primary Structure - All structural components the failure of which would seriously
endanger the structure – Piles, legs & bracings, concrete caissons & towers, main
deck girders, lower hulls, pontoons, columns, main bracings, deck beams, heli-deck.
Secondary Structure - Structural elements that are not primary.
Items specific to steel
• Fatigue life
• Specific Joint Design - to minimise stress concentration areas
• Buckling - another prime possibility for component failure
• Destructive Testing - to minimise potential failures & as part of the overall QA.

Chapter 2 - Offshore Structures

Node – Point on steel structure where two or more members and are joined.
Can – The main body of the node.
Conductors – Tubes for drilling purposes, connecting seabed wells to the topside.
Conductor Guide Frame – Horizontal sections of framework, which restrain and
guide the conductors.
Leg – the main vertical component.
Pile Guide – A steel cylinder that supports the pile while it’s driven into the seabed.
Pile Sleeves – Steel cylinders grouped around the base of the legs
Caissons – Open bottomed tubular components terminating at various depths, used
for the intake or discharge of water or waste.
Member – one of the horizontal, vertical or diagonal components of the Jacket.
Flowline Bundles – Pipe-work bringing oil or gas from satellite wellheads into the
platform, also containing control lines and well injection lines.
Production risers carry oil or gas up from the seabed wellheads.
Export risers take the processed hydrocarbons down to pipelines.
Batter – refers to the angle between the vertical and the leg of the jacket
Concrete Weightcoat (made from Gunite) has 3 functions –
• Adds weight to ensure negative buoyancy.
• Protects from physical damage.
• Protects from corrosion
TLP – Tension Leg Platform
FPS – Floating Production System
FPSO – Floating Production Storage & Offloading System
SSIV – Sub Sea Isolation Valve
Mid Water Arch – Keeps flexible riser in Lazy ‘S’ configuration
PLEM – Pipe Line End Manifold

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Chapter 3 - Loading on Offshore Structures

Stress is defined as load or force over area

Tensile Stress - Atoms being pulled apart

Compressive Stress - Atoms being pushed together
Shear Stress (or Torsion)- Atoms being pushed past each other

Yield Point - When a component no longer acts elastically

Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS)-
Loading past UTS will result in Ductile Fracture. - Deformation present
Brittle Fracture - When metal becomes harder locally. No deformation
Residual Stress – A result of incorrect thermal treatment or from force fitting
Static Loading - Based on theoretical 100 year wave
Dynamic Loading - Based on normal wave/wind spectrum
Fetch - Describes wind blowing over a long distance

Fatigue fracture - caused by cyclic loading and unloading

A standard emergency remedial procedure if a crack is found is to drill holes at the
crack tips. This is referred to as crack stopping or blunting
Vortex Shedding – Causes vibration on a structure’s leg at 900 to the water flow.
Also responsible for causing scour
The greatest environmental effect on a structure is the current flow
The natural frequency decreases as the height of the structure increases.

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Chapter 4 - Deterioration of Offshore Steel Structures

Categories of Deterioration and Damage

1. Gross Structural Damage

2. Corrosion and Erosion
3. Fouling Defects
4. Coating Defects
5. Scour
6. Metal and Weld Defects
Four Stages in life of structures where defects can occur:

 Production of raw materials

 Fabrication
 Installation
 In-Service A Lamination is formed by an air gap in the
mould

A Lamination is a Planar (2-dimensional) Fabrication defect

Lack of Sidewall Fusion is a Planar Fabrication defect

A crack is a Planar In-service defect

All other defects are Volumetric (3-dimensional) fabrication defects

The most comprehensive inspection is during fabrication

The first major underwater inspection is the baseline survey
Brittle fracture is more likely at low temperatures.

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Chapter 5 - Deterioration of Offshore Concrete Structures

There are 26 concrete imperfections split into 3 categories

Underlined are in-service

Category A (Defects) Category B (Areas of Concern)

Cracks Embedded Objects
Delamination Cast-in Sockets
Impact Damage Recessed Metal Plates
Pop Out Honeycombing
Exposed Reinforcement Abrasion
Faulty Repair Water-Jet Damage
Tear
Variable Cover

Category C (Blemishes)
Construction Joint Formwork Misalignment
Blowholes Scabbling
Rubbing Down Marks Good Repair
Regular Horizontal Ridge Irregular Horizontal Ridge
Vertical Drag Marks Grout Run
Curing Compound Resin Mortar Repair

Cement is the binding agent in concrete

When water is added Hydration begins.
The pH of concrete is approx. 12.5
Grout - Cement and water
Mortar - Grout and fine aggregate (sand)
Concrete - Mortar and course aggregate
Reinforced Concrete - Concrete with reinforcing bars
Pre-stressed Concrete - Concrete with pre or post tensioning tendons
Sprayed Concrete - Denser mass of concrete (Gunite)
Plain concrete – Concrete with no reinforcement
Minimum cover over reinforcement is 60mm

Concrete Beam

Anchor points of the pre-stressed Tendon anchored in place

tendons termed Cachetage points while still under tension

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Chemical Attack
Sulphate Attack – reaction between the Aluminates and magnesium sulphate
present in seawater causes expansion and cracking.
Chloride Attack – if chlorides penetrate to the reinforcement then passivation is lost
and corrosion will occur.
Carbonation – CO2 from the air can attack the concrete, if it reaches the
reinforcement will cause corrosion.
Reinforcement Corrosion – will occur if passivation is lost.
Concrete is only good in compression, not good in shear or tensile loading
Weathering is the term used for concrete erosion

Concrete

++
Fe
Delamination

Popout

Reporting cracks

<1mm wide – Fine crack.

1-2mm wide – Medium crack

> 2mm wide – Wide crack

Chapter 6 - Marine Growth

Marine Growth affects the structure by:

• Adding mass without adding to the stiffness.

• Altering the surface from smooth to rough, so increasing the drag-coefficient
• Increasing the profile presented to the water flow, so increasing the drag
• Altering the corrosion rate either adding to, or subtracting from it
• Reducing the effective area of inlets and outlets
• Obscuring important features
• Making inspection impossible without cleaning

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Factors affecting Marine Growth:

• Depth
• Temperature
• Water Current
• Salinity
• Food Supply
• Impressed Current Cathodic Protection

Photic Zone is 0 to 20 meters. Plants will not grow below the Photic Zone

Soft Fouling Hard Fouling

• Algae 0 to 20m • Mussels 0 to 50m

• Seaweeds 0 to 20m • Tubeworms 0 to 100m
• Anemones 0 to 150m • Barnacles 0 to 120m
• Dead Man’s Fingers 0 to 120m • Bryozoans 0 to 1000m
• Bacteria 0 to 1000m • Lophelia 80 to 3000m
• Sponges 0 to 1000m
• Sea Squirts 0 to 1000m
• Hydroids 0 to 1000m

Underlined are plants the rest animals

Kelp – Sargassum – Bladderwrack - are all seaweeds

Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10 - Corrosion
In the Anodic reaction (also known as Oxidation) the atom loses electrons
In the Cathodic reaction (also known as Reduction) the atom gains electrons

For corrosion to take place there must be 4 elements:

• An Anode
• A Cathode
• An electrical connection between anode & cathode
• An electrolyte

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Negative Negative
Electrons Ion
Positive
- O2
Ion - -
-
+

Environmental factors affecting corrosion rates:

• Temperature. Higher temperature increases corrosion

• Water Flow Rate. Stronger flow increases corrosion
• The pH of the water. Steel corrodes least at a pH of between 11 and 12

Most common materials for sacrificial anodes are:

• Aluminium
• Zinc

Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP)

Negative must be connected to the structure; positive to the anode.

Most common materials of anodes for ICCP systems are:
• Platinum sheathed Titanium
• Lead/Silver Alloys
Output of ICCP system is 30-80 volts DC and 300 to 1000 amps
Shadow areas are areas of inadequate protection
Paints and coatings are used to isolate the structure from the electrolyte
Monel sheathing (Copper/Nickle alloy) isolates the structure from the electrolyte
Galvanic Series – less noble metal will sacrifice itself to protect more noble metal
Stress Corrosion - The rate of corrosion is much faster compared to any similar
member carrying lighter loads.
Proximity CP readings – Positive connected to structure negative to Ag/AgCl half-
cell. The gap is a maximum 100mm
Dielectric Shields – put between the anode and the structure to prevent high
density current flowing directly into the structure, which could cause embrittlement.

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The Pourbaix Diagram

+ 800mV

(A)
+ 400mV Structure will corrode
Electrode Potential in mV

(B)
B
0 Make it more positive and
structure is protected by
CORROSION PASSIVITY passivation
Anodic Protection

- 450mV A D (C)
Make it more negative and
structure is protected by
- 640mV immunity
Cathodic Protection
- 800mV
C IMMUNITY (D)
Increase the pH and structure
- 1100mV is protected by passivation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
pH Scale (Potential of Hydrogen)

Calibration of Bathycorrometer
Firstly prove the Calomel cell or K-Series cell – Soak for 24hrs in fresh seawater,
hook up in pairs to voltmeter and select one that is in the range +/- 2mV

+ve +/- 2mV -ve +ve +/- 2mV -ve +ve +/- 2mV -ve

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

1 Fully charge the CP Meter 2 Soak for 30 minutes

In fresh seawater 3 Unscrew the tip from the meter

+42 +/_5mV

4 Screw in the Calomel cell 5 Immerse the meter in the

Bucket for 10 minutes 6 Record the reading in the log

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15 hours to fully charge a Bathycorrometer

Impingement is a consequence of laminar flow
Grain boundary corrosion also known as weld decay or preferential corrosion

Readings you will expect

Magnesium -1400 to -1700mV

Over-protected structure More negative than -1100mV

Zinc -1000 to -1080mV

Protected Steel -800 to -1100mV

Under-protected Steel -640 to -800mV

Unprotected Steel -450 to -640mV

Monel -50 to -150mV

Chapter 11 Welding
5 types of joint – Butt Joint, Lap Joint, Corner Joint, T Joint, and Cruciform Joint
Butt Weld (A tension resisting weld where the bulk of the weld material is contained
within the planes or thickness of the parent material)
Fillet Weld (A weld where the bulk of the weld metal is outside of the planes or
thickness of the parent plate).

6 Categories of weld defects (C.C.S.L.I.M.)

• Cracks
• Cavities (Porosity, wormholes, crater pipes, root piping)
• Solid Inclusions (Slag. Tungsten – from the TIG process)
• Lack of penetration and or lack of fusion
• Imperfect shape. (Overlap. poor cap profile. excessive reinforcement.
Leg-length. Misalignment. Poor stop/start. Undercut.)
• Miscellaneous. (Arc strike. Spatter. Mechanical damage. Slag.)
Planar defects are 2-Dimensional (Cracks, lack of sidewall fusion, laminations)
Volumetric defects are 3-Dimensional (everything that is not planar eg Porosity,
undercut, slag inclusion, lack of sidewall fusion incompletely filled groove)
Submerged Arc Welding no good for welding nodal welds
A Node is where the brace is prepared during fabrication (Set on)
A Nozzle is where the chord is prepared during fabrication (Set through)
Arc blow –Magnetism in a workpiece can draw the weld pool away from the side
wall
Trecry – The re-crystallisation temperature point of a metal that causes the grains to
reform and grow known as the HAZ

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Chapter 12 - Photography
Advantage of still photography over CCTV is - Photography has higher resolution
Camera definition determined by number of megapixels - 6 megapixels minimum
ISO setting – How quickly the camera reacts to light
f-stop – How big the aperture is
f-stop = focal length divided by aperture diameter (Size of the aperture)
Shutter speed – How long the aperture stays open
Focal Length is the distance between the lens optical centre when set to infinity and
the image sensor
Image Sensor (CCD) – The part of a digital camera that captures the image
CCD – Charged Coupled Device
Field of View – The wider the angle of lens, the greater the field of view
Smaller the f-stop the bigger the aperture
Depth of field - distance in front of and behind subject that is in focus
Close-up – is when lens is less than 1m from subject
Stand-off – is when lens is more than 1m from subject
An increase in the f stop i.e. f5.6 to f8 will increase the depth of field
Parallax – difference between the diver’s eye view and the camera view
Absorption = Loss of colour
Reflection = light bounces of the surface
Attenuation = loss of light intensity with depth
Scatter = light bouncing off particles in water
Photos should always have a scale
Photogrammetry is stereo photos which are subsequently computer analysed

Distance Focal Length f-Stop

To Increase the Move Further Shorten the Increase to a

Depth of Field away Focal length Higher Number

Chapter 13 – Video
Silicon Intensified Target (SIT) Cameras – This type of camera is extensively used
on ROV’s where it is most frequently used for navigation.
Charged Coupled Device (CCD) Cameras – This type of camera is widely used
and operates on the same principal as a digital camera.
Video gives real time images
Encoding Standards
HD is anything that encodes at over 720 lines
Highest most commonly used HD at present encodes at 1080 lines

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Chapter 14 - Ultrasonics
Infrasound is less than 16Hz
Human hearing range is 16Hz to 20,000 Hz (20kHz)
Ultrasound is 20kHz to 10MHz
Ultrasonic frequency used for testing is between 0.5MHz to 6MHz
Lower frequencies of 0.5MHz to 1.5MHz are used for materials with large grain
structures. (Castings or concrete)
2MHz to 6MHz used for fine grain material (steel)
Longitudinal/Compression waves - particles oscillate in same direction as the
wave
Shear/Transverse waves - particles oscillate at 900 to the wave propagation
Shear/Transverse waves for weld inspection and accurate defect sizing
Shear/Transverse waves travel at 3250 m/s in steel
Longitudinal/Compression waves for thickness measurements and laminations
Speed of sound in structural steel 5940 meters per second in longitudinal mode
Acoustic impedance – The resistance of a material to the passage of ultrasound
Acoustic attenuation – reduction of energy of the sound wave
Law of Reflection – Angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection
Law of Refraction – Snell’s Law (to do with refraction)
A Transducer is any device that transforms energy from one form into another
Definition of wavelength – the distance travelled by the sound wave during one
complete particle vibration
One complete particle vibration is also known as one cycle

v
λ f

DTM and A-Scan use the Pulse-Echo Technique

DTM uses 2.5MHz 00Compression Probe
DTM main limitation is that it gives the Major reflector only
Formula to calculate near zone is NZ = D2 ÷ 4λ
A Scan - Y axis shows amplitude. X axis shows time/distance

Single Crystal Probe Twin Crystal Probe

Advantages Advantages
Good power output Good Near Zone resolution
Greater penetration Can measure thin plate

Disadvantages Disadvantages
Poor Near Zone resolution Less power output.
Cannot measure thin plate Less penetration

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Chapter 15 - Other NDT Methods Used Offshore

CP Readings – Not a defect detection method – it is used to monitor the overall
cathodic protection of the structure
MPI – For finding surface-breaking and slightly sub-surface defects in ferromagnetic
materials (SA2.5)
Radiography – used for weld inspection using Iridium192 (SA1)
Radiography is good for finding volumetric defects
Eddy Current (EMD or EMT) – used for detecting and sizing for length, surface-
breaking cracks in conducting materials. (SA2)
ACPD (Alternating Current Potential Drop) – Used to size for depth a surface-
breaking defect. Not used for detecting defects (SA2.5)
ACFM (Alternating Current Field Measurement) – Used for finding and sizing for
length and depth surface-breaking defects in electrically conducting materials, even
through coatings up to 5mm thick (SA2)
FMD (Flooded Member Detection) – for assessing the integrity of tubular members.
Radiographic FMD technique uses Caesium137 and is only used by ROV
Ultrasonic technique (Diver or ROV) uses low frequency (0.5MHz) probe
LAM Gauge (Linear Angular Measurement Gauge)

Chapter 16 - QA/QC and Reporting

The Duty Holder is responsible for ensuring the structure remains safe, fit for design
purpose & for implementing IMR program & Criteria of non-conformance (CNC)
IVB (Independent Verifying Body)
Lloyds Register of Shipping - Lloyds
Det Norske Veritas - DNV – (recently DNV/GL)
Bureau Veritas - BV
American Bureau of Shipping - ABS

All Safety Critical Elements (SCE) are inspected over a 5-year period
Risers, Caissons, Conductors & Conductor Guide Frames are inspected yearly
All NDT is done under planned IRM (Inspection Repair Maintenance) programmes

Chapter 17 – Cleaning

SA1 gross fouling only

SA2 Gross fouling and any lose paint or corrosion product
SA2.5 Dull Matt metal finish
SA3 Bright shiny metal

For CVI clean to SA2.5 the weld cap and 75mm either side of the weld cap
Remedial Grinding for removing or assessing depth of defects
Profile grinding for smoothing out stress concentration areas

Never use HP water jets to clean concrete

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