Marine growth inspection for jacket structures by behaviour and sensitivity analysis

Abstract

The integrity of jacket-type structures is substantially impacted by hydrodynamic loads. One of the factors that contribute to increase of hydrodynamic loads is marine growth fouling. To this end, the marine growth thickness is monitored through time-based underwater inspection. However, the underwater marine growth inspection would sometime require divers to perform the measurement. It is always good practice to prevent using divers wherever possible since the risk associated with divers are high. From some of the older jacket-type structures, there have been numerous past records of marine growth measurement. The improvement opportunity is to collect these past historical records to understand the marine growth behavior within a certain location. This information is vital for oil and gas operators where after a certain year, regular marine growth inspection may no longer be required. Furthermore, it is also useful to understand the sensitivity of jacket structures to marine growth fouling.