MATERIALS IN OFFSHORE CONSTRUCTION

Classification of steel by codes

RECOMMENDED PRACTICE FOR PLANNING, DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTING FIXED OFFSHORE
PLATFORMS - WORKING STRESS DESIGN. RP-2AWSD - AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSITUTE
STEEL GROUPS - API RP- 2A WSD
Steel are grouped according to the strength level and welding characteristics.
• Group I - steels with specified minimum yield strength (SMYS) of 280MPa or less, carbon
equivalent is 0.4% or less
• Group II - 280Mpa < SMYS < 360MPa, carbon equivalent upto 0.45% and higher, requires
the use of low hydrogen welding process
• Group III- High strength steels, SMYS is > 360MPa; special welding procedures required.
• Steel structures - strength is not only the criteria
• Should have good superior low temperature toughness for the base metal and the welded
joints to avoid brittle failure. For this, besides charpy impact properties, the material requires
good CTOD - (crack-tip-opening-displacement ) properties. CTOD is one of a family of fracture
mechanics tests that measures the resistance of a material to growing of a crack.
• Fixed offshore structures - medium grade structural steels, with yield strengths typically in the
range of 350MPa. These steels are well documented and covered by existing codes and
standards.
• In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the use of higher strength steels for
these installations.
• Benefits from an increase in the strength to weight ratio and the associated savings in the cost
of materials.
• As a result, significant parts of several platforms (jacket and topsides) have been constructed
from 400 -450MPa steel and installed in the North Sea.
• However, to date, fatigue sensitive components (e.g. tubular joints) have generally been
fabricated from medium strength steel because of better knowledge on these steels with
regard to fatigue performance and the lack of increased performance of high strength steels in
this area.
• The principal application of very high strength steels in the offshore has been in the fabrication
of jack-ups.
• Steels with nominal yield strengths in the range 500 - 800MPa are normally used in the
fabrication of legs, rack and pinions and spud cans.
• Jack-ups, used primarily for drilling, have many years of satisfactory experience in use, operating
in a variety of water depths, but are normally brought into dry dock for inspection at 5year
intervals, to determine whether any damage or cracking can be found and to get it repaired.
• High strength steels have also been used in tethering attachments for floating structures in TLPs
(tension leg platforms) and for mooring lines with semi-submersible module offshore drilling
units (MODUs).
• High strength steel – SMYS > 350MPa is used in offshore structures.

ALUMINIUM OR ALUMINUM
They are used in hulls, deckhouses and hatch covers of commercial ships. They are also used in
equipment items such as ladders, railings, gratings, windows and doors. Passenger vessels utilize
large quantities of aluminium in superstructure and equipment. Small and high speed boats in
particular are constructed of aluminium using Aluminium alloys. The strength of Aluminium alloys
are approaching to that of mild steel. This leads to a great advantage as "equal-strength” structures
can be designed with a weight saving of 55 to 67%. Aluminium's specific weight is 1/2.5 of steel.
However, the cost of aluminum is approximately twice that of steel. But maintenance costs work out
to be 1.5 times the cost of aluminium, over a period of ten years. Further, aluminium does not need
any protective coating and therefore cost over the life of the structure is lower. In particular, alloys -
5xxx series alloys for marine applications have weld yield strengths of 100 to 200MPa. They are also
used in in pressure vessels in liquid natural gas (LNG) transport ships. These pressure vessels
mounted on the hull of a ship are usually spheres and can be of substantial dimension ~ 36m
diameter with a wall thickness of 5cm. Insulations are provided so that the low temperature do not
reach the ship's hull.

Other non-ferrous metals

Few non-ferrous metals also have increased application in marine environment. For example,
Cupronickel - Copper, Nickel (69% Copper, 30% Nickel), K-Monel-Nickel, copper (Nickel 65%, Cu 30%
+ others including Al and Titanium), Nickel Copper 400 ( Nickel 66%, Cu 31.5% + others, excludes Al
and Titanium) and Bronze (Cu 90, Zn 10). Cupronickel are widely used for condenser applications
such as tubes, tube sheets and manifolds (pipe with one inlet and many outlets or one outlet and
many inlets). Bronze is widely used for valves, pumps and heat exchangers and in applications which
do not required high strength. Other non-metallic materials like fibre glass, glass (tempered), wood,
concrete and ferrocement are also popular. Fibre glass is the most prominent nonmetallic material
for ocean applications. It is essentially used for fabricating small boats and buoys. Fibre glass is a
composite material consisting of reinforcing materials of fibrous nature and a bonding material.
Reinforcing material gives strength to the structure and consists of glass fibres, or carbon graphite,
nylon, silica or metals such as steel, aluminium, boron and tungsten; Bonding material - epoxies,
polyesters, phenolics and silicones. Most common is glass fibre with an epoxy or polyester binder. Its
strength depends on the manufacturing process and performance characteristics vary with the
manufacturer. Fiberglass polyester mat is used widely in the production of small boats and buoys.
Advantages of FRP are the absence of maintenance and its durability under a variety of operating
conditions. Fibreglass, owing to its internal damping characteristics, may heat up when subjected to
fast-changing stress cycles; it reaches its fatigue strength at 10million cycles and the ratio of fatigue
strength to tensile strength is below 0.25. Fibreglass is inclined to lose strength by the absorption of
water when immersed over long periods of time and by exposure to ultraviolet rays. Coatings are
advisable when structures made of this material are exposed to long periods in water and exposure
to rays. Absorption of water results in substantial decrease in compressive strength and ultraviolet
rays impart brittleness to fibreglass. They tend to laminate upon application of heat. An important
caution is that most fiberglass resins will burn.

Concrete has popular applications in marine environment due to its excellent compressive strength,
and resistance to attack by sea water. Its low tensile strength leads to design with minimum tension,
bending and shear stresses. Reinforcements including prestressing or ferrocement may be desirable
in such cases. Ferrocement consists of wire mesh or similar reinforcement that gives the cement
considerable stability and permits some tensile stress. Ferrocement has been used to construct
barges, boats etc. Pressure vessels for LNG storage are made of prestressed concrete. The major
disadvantage is that concrete suffers some deterioration during freezing and thawing. One of the
oldest material used in the ocean is wood. For many years, it was the only material used for ship
building. It is extensively used for pilings, docks and similar application. Wood laminates, available as
commercial brands are also being used as structural members. Buoyancy materials have specific
gravity considerably lower than that of water. When integrally included in an underwater structure
they provide buoyancy. For example, small submarines, oil well drill pipe, deep-sea buoys. Buoyancy
material, most commonly are wood (specific gravity 0.5 ) and gasoline (specific gravity 0.7).
Desirable characteristics required for buoyancy materials are that they do not compress and do not
absorb water. Syntactic foams cater to the needs of buoyancy materials. These are hollow glass
spheres, which have a high compressive and shear strength, dispersed in a plastic matrix. Most
efficient syntactic foams use glass spheres of extremely small diameter called microballoons with an
epoxy resin binder. They have low water absorption and can be easily be handled with woodworking
tools.