In a paper prepared for the recent Dome digital oilfield conference Mohamed Atia presented a structural integrity study of a North Sea platform performed by London, UK headquartered Atkins.
Atkins performs real time monitoring of large offshore structures as they twist and bend in response to sea states and loading. Real time monitoring can provide immediate detection of structural failure and can be used to design a structural integrity management program.
Structural monitoring is achieved by placing accelerometers at key places on a platform. Data is analysed in Atkins’ fleet management system (FMS). FMS allows operators to visualize deformation according to a structure’s natural frequencies and spot short term incidents and long term trends.
On one platform a jacket brace failure was immediately detected from a change in the structure’s natural frequency. More from Atkins1802.
This article originally appeared in Oil IT Journal 2014 Issue # 12.
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