Lecture 9

14.5 Release

Fatigue Analysis
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Introduction
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This lecture provides only the basic ideas of fatigue. Some discussion of
the background to the checking methods is included as well.

The main purpose of this lecture is to demonstrate the implementation of

ANSYS technology in studying fatigue in fixed marine structures.

Joint fatigue assessment (FATJACK) is included in Design Assessment and

can be connected to Static Structural, Transient Structural and Harmonic
Response analyses.

In order to use FATJACK in the most efficient way, global models are often
studied first. Although such models contain approximations, they have the
benefit of giving a good insight into the structural behaviour. At a later
stage local models may need to be solved (see submodeling).

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Nomenclature
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Attribute Groups define the input data to FATJACK

DA result objects define the output. They can be requested either before
or after the analysis

Inspection Points are the positions to check for fatigue around the brace
where it connects to the chord

As WB is geometry-based the user needs to select bodies rather than

individual elements

Elements that do not have results will be semi transparent in the graphics
window

Stress Concentration Factors can be returned for the brace or the chord
side

As always the results can be parameterised!

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Stress Concentration Factors

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The distribution of stresses across the section of a member may be abrupt

due to stress raiser in the region (bolt holes, notches, welds). When the
variation is abrupt so that within a very short distance the stress intensity
increases greatly, the condition is described as stress concentration.

The term is vague and it implies some sort of irregularity not inherent in
the member.

In short, SCF is the ratio act/, i.e. actual stress divided by nominal stress.
The nominal stress is based on the net section ignoring any stress
redistribution caused be the irregularity. Consider the following example:
Sample subjected to uniform bending
My
moment, the nom I , which for the current
6M
geometry becomes

nom

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b( D h) 2

But the actual stress is much higher because

of the stress concentration that occurs at the
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root of the4 notch!

Stress Concentration Factors (cont.)

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SCFs relate hot spot stresses to the nominal stresses in a member

computed from the axial forces and in-plane and out-of-plane bending
moments.

FATJACK provides facilities for both defining explicit SCF values and for
automatically generating the SCF values using one or more established
empirical formulations. Explicit and generated SCF values may be mixed as
necessary to achieve the desired result.

Some default values exist in FATJACK, e.g. for tubular section:

brace side SCF for in-plane bending=3.5
brace side SCF for out-of-plane bending=3.5
chord side SCF for axial force=3.0
chord side SCF for in-plane bending=3.5
chord side SCF for out-of-plane bending=3.5

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Fatigue Assessment
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When a steel member is subject to a sufficiently large fluctuating tensile

stress, small crack-like defects will grow in size and eventually reach a big
enough size to cause the member to fail.

Most marine structures are subject to chaotic stress fluctuations during

their design life making any approach based on endurance limit stress
impractical. Random operation loads (wind, wave, earthquake, VIV) make
the use of S-N curves necessary in this case.

The use of S-N curves is an alternative approach for the assessment of inservice cracks. Based on specimens subject to fluctuating loading the
number of cycles to failure N is inversely proportional to the stress range S
to the power m of 3 to 4. This is expressed by the following relationship:

N AS m where A and m are obtained experimentally

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The method used within FATJACK to carry out the fatigue assessment is
based upon the use of S-N curves
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Fatigue Assessment (cont.)

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The environment is also important, fatigue life is reduced in freely

corroding conditions (Bradshaw et al. 1984).

Tubular joints are used throughout fixed marine structures and a number
of different S-N curves already exist in the public domain.

Crack propagation is mostly driven by tensile stresses but high tensile

residual stresses in the material exist creating tensile stresses even when
the applied stress is compressive. This compression-tension cycle requires
the use of the full stress range in fatigue calculation. A typical S-N curve is
shown below.

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Miners Rule
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Miners rule is based on the concept of fatigue damage. For variable

amplitude environmental load, Miners rule allows for the number of
different amplitude stress cycles to be considered.

The S-N curve only provides information for constant amplitude loading.

The fatigue damage for a joint that is subject to n number of cycles/year

of constant amplitude loading when it could take N AS m cycles is
simply n/N. If the same joint is subject to a variable amplitude loading the
load cycles can be divided into groups of approximately an equal stress
range. Thus, if there are G groups with stress range Sg and number of
cycles ng in each group, the fatigue damage, per group, is
m
N g AS g
Dg ng / N g where

Miners rule states that failure, under variable amplitude loading, is to

G
occur when

D
g 1

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Miners Rule (cont.)

ni
n3
n5
n1
n2
n4

N N N N N N
i
1
2
3
4
5

Miners Damage Rule:

amp

N1
n1

Damage =1.0

N2
n2

N3
n3

N3

n4

N4

n5

N5

log N

Since the calculation is based on the number of cycles/yr for the constituent
waves, the resulting damage is that associated with one year of operation. The
fatigue life is simply the reciprocal of damage, that is life=1/D
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Added Mass
When dealing with marine structures, two important additions to the
normal structural mass have to be considered:
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The added (entrained) mass of water, which moves with submerged or

partially submerged structural members.

The increase in mass due to marine growth (which varies over the life of
the structure).
It must be remembered that the added water is external to the structure
and is over and above any water contained within a hollow structure. For
example a hollow pipe has an effective mass equal to:

The mass of the member

The mass of the water contained within the pipe

The added mass

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Added Mass (cont.)

In theory added mass (mass/unit length) is determined by potential flow
theory but added mass values for common sections are widely
documented.
Closely with added mass are the drag and inertia coefficients (OCTABLE)
Added mass is defined in OCDATA as, the ratio of added mass of the
external fluid over added mass for a circular cross section
Obviously the added mass can have a profound effect on modal and
dynamic analyses and should be calculated as accurately as possible.

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Rainflow Counting
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Consider the stress-time history recorded at a probe as shown in Fig. A. Questions like what stresses are
significant, what counts as a cycle, and what is the measure of damage incurred spring into mind!

Consider the first fully reversed cycle and the second fully reversed cycle.

It is clear that to impose the stress-time history on a part, it is necessary that the time trace look like the
solid line plus the dashed line.

Fig. B begins and ends with the max stress-time history.

Acknowledging the existence of a single stress-time history is to discover a hidden cycle as shown in the
dashed line.

To ensure that the hidden cycle is not lost, start the curve with the largest (or smallest) stress and add
previous history to the right side as shown in Fig. B.

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Rainflow Counting (cont.)

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Imagine we flood the curve with water and we gradually drain it to monitor the valleys that
are formed.

Valley #1 has max=80Pa, min=-60Pa, av=70Pa, m=10Pa

Valley #2 has max=60Pa, min=40Pa, av=10Pa, m=50Pa

Valley #3 has max=-20Pa, min=-40Pa, av=10Pa, m=-30Pa

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Rainflow Counting (cont.)

Based on ASTM E1049-85 (2005) Standard Practices for Cycle Counting in Fatigue
Analysis
Reduces spectrum of varying stress into simple stress reversals
Allows the application of Miners rule to assess fatigue life of structure subject to
complex loading
It is possible to use results from up to 1000 different transient dynamic analyses
and loading (i.e., multi-directional wave spectra)
Results can be combined using a probabilistic approach, output includes:
fatigue life (based on Miners rule)
usage factors
damage per wave (history)

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ANSYS - Code Checks (FATJACK/BEAMST)

Joint Code & Member Code checks including:
AISC 10th edition working stress and 2nd edition LRFD
API RP2a-WSD 21st edition working stress
RP2A-LRFD 1st edition
BS5950 part 1 1992
NORSOK 2000
NORSOK NS3472 1984
NPD 1992
DS449 1984 (with 1994 amendments)
DS412 1984 (with 1994 amendments)
ISO 19902 implementation started
Easy-to-use code check facilities including:
Code checks on time histories
Code checks on combined load cases
Visualization of code checks
Ability to use them in combination with ANSYS calculations

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ANSYS - Fatigue Assessments

FATJACK module offers both deterministic and spectral fatigue capabilities

for tubular frame structures subjected to waves and current or wind including wind gusts
can be used in frequency and time domain
sea states: JONSWAP, Pierson-Moskovitz, Occhi-Hubble, Scot-Weigel and Shell New Wave,
or user-defined wave spectra

FATJACK includes explicit SCF definitions

SCFJ if crown & saddle SCF is known e.g. from empirical formulae
SCFA if SCF is known at specific locations e.g. from FE
SCFB if SCF is constant across a section
SCFP if SCF values vary with location

Automatic (empirically derived) SCF definitions based on

Efthymiou, Wordsworth, Kuang or DS449

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Analysis Type Selection

At v14 support for spectral fatigue was added:

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Analysis Type Selection (cont.)

The following types of fatigue analysis are supported in Workbench:
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Time History: enables the selection of joints to be included, along with the definition of the cycles
for rainflow counting and target life. Upstream systems are usually transient analyses with random
ocean loading coming from different wave directions

Stress History: enables the selection of joints to be included, along with the definition of the target
life. Wave conditions (heights, periods, directions) are automatically determined with OCEAN
commands in the upstream system(s). Wave occurrence data can be provided with attribute
groups. Upstream systems can be either static or transient structural

Spectral (static/dynamic): Enables the selection of joints, along with definition of the peak stress,
wave spreading and target life of the analysis. Wave transfer function, spectrum, and additional
frequency data should be provided in a text file containing the FATJACK commands. Wave load
cases are automatically determined using the HROCEAN command provided in upstream system(s)
in the order that they are defined. Upstream systems are usually of the Harmonic Response type;
note that both the static and harmonic options of the HROCEAN command can be used when
performing a spectral analysis

Deterministic: Enables the selection of joints, along with definition of the target life. Wave load
cases are automatically determined using the harmonic ocean wave procedure provided in
upstream system(s). Upstream systems should be of harmonic response type; only the static option
of the HROCEAN is appropriate here (HROCEAN,STATIC)
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Deterministic Methods
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Deterministic methods apply Miners rule directly

The ocean environment is idealised by representative wave cases, with

a defined number of loading cycles (occurrences/year). MAPDL
commands will be used to produce a series of wave cases. The
structure is then analysed to determine the stress state and then the
fatigue life

In deep waters (D>0.5) where the structure responds sinusoidally to the

load, the wave loading generates a loadcase pair for each wave case
analysed. The pair of loadcases represents the real and imaginary parts
of a solution which retains both magnitude and phase information

The above is achieved by undertaking a harmonic response analysis

FATJACK uses this data to generate the stress ranges directly from the
incoming member forces for the loadcase pairs

In shallow waters linear theory is invalid and a more detailed analysis

needs to be adopted, i.e. stress-history approach (not covered here)

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Harmonic Ocean Wave Procedure

(HOWP)

Standard harmonic analysis logic with ocean loading includes the added
mass of the water outside the pipe. A damping matrix must be added
separately if one is needed. The load vector is computed based on the
loads at a given time, but the standard analysis method usually misses
some important effects, as all peak loads rarely occur at the same time

So that all relevant ocean wave loading effects are accounted for, a
specialized variation of the harmonic analysis is available. The harmonic
ocean wave procedure (HOWP) applies to regular waves only (Airy and
Wheeler one-component waves, as well as Stokes and Deans Stream
Function waves), and works only with the full-solution harmonic analysis
method (HROPT,FULL)

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Harmonic Ocean Wave Procedure

(HOWP) (cont.)
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HOWP is implemented with the HROCEAN command. The frequency is

obtained by the wave period defined via OCDATA & OCTABLE when
HROCEAN, HARMONIC.

Ocean loads are calculated with the assumption that the structure is
stationary

ANSYS calculates the forces on each load component of each element at

NPHASE solutions, spread evenly over one wave cycle. Then, the minimum
and maximum, and the phase between them, are calculated. The
command uses the resulting information to generate the real and
imaginary loads.

For every component of every element, special calculations are performed

to obtain real and imaginary loads. All loads are sinusoidal at the given
frequency, but the magnitude and phase angle of every component of
every element needs to be determined, as follows:
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Harmonic Ocean Wave Procedure

(HOWP) (cont.)
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First, assume that the wave profile is represented as a simple cosine wave,
as shown below:

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Harmonic Ocean Wave Procedure

(HOWP) (cont.)
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A series of static analyses is performed ranging from 0 to 360 degrees. The

number of these analyses is controlled via the HROCEAN command. The
result is a roughly sinusoidal force pattern, as shown below:

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Harmonic Ocean Wave Procedure

(HOWP) (cont.)
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From this force history, the maximum and minimum forces are calculated
by fitting the highest and lowest points. Then:
(Ymax Ymin )
2
( X X min 180)
max
if X max X min
2
( X X min 180)
max
if X max X min
2
A

Y A cos( X ) A cos cos X A sin sin X

Acos is the coefficient on the real load vector and Asin is the coefficient
on the imaginary load vector

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Harmonic Ocean Load

HROCEAN, Type, NPHASE
Type Specifies how to include ocean wave information in a harmonic
analysis:
HARMONIC (default) Performs a harmonic analysis using both real and
imaginary load vectors (calculated via HOWP). This behaviour is the
default. This option works by performing a harmonic analysis running at a
frequency determined by the wave period (specified via OCTABLE).

STATIC Performs a static analysis using both real and imaginary load
vectors (calculated via HOWP). This option works by performing a
harmonic analysis running at a frequency of 0.0.
OFF Deactivates a previously activated HOWP and performs a standard
harmonic analysis.
NPHASE Positive number specifying the number of phases to calculate
forces. This value must be at least 8 (defaults to 20)

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Further Reading
Salmon C.G. & Johnson J.E. (1980) Steel structures design and behaviour,
Harper and Row, New York
Gurney T.R. (1979) Fatigue of welded structures, Cambridge Uni Press
Knott J.F. (1973) Fundamentals of fracture mechanics, Butterworths UK
Lalani, M. & Teddett, I.E. (1985) Design of tubular joints for offshore
structures, UEG, London

Barltrop, N. & Adams, A.J. (1991) Dynamics of Fixed Marine Structures,

Butterworth-Heinemann
Bishop, N & Sherratt, F. (2000) Finite Element Based Fatigue Calculations,
NAFEMS

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Workshop 7 Fatigue Analysis

Workshop 7 Fatigue Analysis
Goal:
Learn how to set up a Design Assessment system with FATJACK
Learn about Solution Selection and analysis factorization
Define input in DA
Request output from DA
Study the results

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