Abstract
Tubular members are widely used in oil and gas offshore production and drilling structures either fixed or mobile units. Due to complex operational conditions, the tubular members are subjected to both age and mechanical related damage, which in turn affect the ability of the structure to withstand the applied loads. This motivates the importance of investigating the behavior of tubular members considering the presence of dentation resulting from collision or falling objects and consequently assessing the residual strength of the damaged members accurately. A series of finite element analysis are performed to study the pre- and post-ultimate strength behavior of intact and locally dented un-stiffened steel tubular members subjected to four-point bending. The effects of dent geometrical parameters; length, width, depth, orientation, and location on the ultimate load carrying capacity are analyzed. The ratio between the diameters to the shell thickness is varied, where combined local and global initial imperfections are considered. Buckling and post collapse analysis as well as modes of failure are studied. Parametric diagrams for the ultimate residual strength as a function of dent geometry and the location of damage are also presented. Several concluding remarks are stated which benefit the structural integrity assessment of tubular steel members.
