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No description available.

Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) is a promising source of energy for the future. However, it is still under development and many challenges need to be overcome to develop competitive solutions. While the design of the station keeping system of traditional offshore oil and gas structures is driven mainly by their low frequency motions, MRE devices are installed at nearshore locations and move dynamically. Because of these criteria, MRE mooring systems require novel mooring systems and associated standards. MRE mooring standards need to take into account the highly dynamic behaviour of these systems, which can lead to large mooring loads. The nature of these loads needs to be investigated to improve the confidence in mooring design and to improve cost-effectiveness. The aim of this thesis is to develop the understanding of peak mooring loads on highly dynamic mooring systems, in particular, the environmental conditions associated with the loads. In addition, preliminary research into the response of the mooring systems to environmental conditions is presented. Both field tests and tank tests have been conducted. Field tests give insight into the behaviour of a dynamic mooring system in real sea conditions. Measuring the mooring loads and the environmental conditions - wave, and current if available – for several months, a methodology has been developed to detect peak mooring loads and identify the associated environmental conditions in order to compare them with the environmental conditions recorded throughout the field tests. The principal finding is that peak mooring loads occur for sea states with large but not always the highest significant wave height HS. The understanding of the effect of tidal conditions on peak mooring loads requires further work. A tank test of a dynamic mooring system in moderate sea states has been conducted to observe the dynamic behaviour of the mooring system. Tank tests enable detailed observations of the dynamic behaviour of a system in a well controlled environment and allow the calibration of a numerical model. The model can be used to investigate separate physical parameters. The results from this thesis will assist in the development of specific standards for MRE mooring systems. These standards are essential for the evolution of the MRE industry.

[pt] Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito do jateamento de partículas (shot-peening) sobre a vida-fadiga do aço estrutural R4, largamente adotado na fabricação de componentes estruturais para sistemas de ancoragem de unidades flutuantes. Inicialmente, amostras cilíndricas do material foram retiradas das seções retas de elos tipo Kenter. Em seqüência, algumas amostras foram temperadas e revenidas em diferentes tempos de tratamento, com o objetivo de se promover uma homogeneidade microestrutural, bem como propriedades mecânicas similares àquelas dos elos tratados industrialmente. As amostras foram submetidas a ensaios de dureza e tração e, com base nos resultados, providenciou-se o tratamento térmico de todas as amostras. Dando continuidade a etapa experimental, corpos de prova para ensaios de fadiga foram usinados das amostras tratadas e submetidos a jateamento com microesferas de aço temperado sob pressões de 20 psi, 30 psi e 40 psi. Finalmente, corpos de prova nas condições sem jateamento e após jateamento foram submetidos a ensaios de fadiga por flexão rotativa, com o objetivo de se levantar a curva tensão versus número de ciclos para a falha (curva S-N) do aço estrutural R4 nas diferentes condições de superfície. A extensão da vida em fadiga do aço estrutural R4 foi relacionada com o jateamento de microesferas. De acordo com os resultados, houve uma influência benéfica do tratamento de superfície sobre a vida-fadiga do material. Tal influência foi caracterizada por um maior número de ciclos para a falha e aumento do limite de resistência à fadiga. Os resultados mostraram que a extensão da vida útil esteve diretamente relacionada com a intensidade do jateamento, significando que uma maior intensidade de jateamento provocou uma maior extensão da vida-fadiga do material. / [en] The objective of the present work was to evaluate the effect of shot peening on the fatigue life of a grade R4 structural steel, largely adopted for fabricating offshore mooring chains. Initially, cylindrical samples of the material were cut of from the straight sections of Kenter links. In the sequence, a number of specimens were austenitized ed and tempered making use of different treatment times, in order to promote a microstructural homogeneity as well as mechanical properties similar to those associated with industrial heat treatments. The specimens were subjected to hardness and tensile tests and on the basis of the results, all samples were heat treated. After that, fatigue specimens were machined from the treated samples and shot peened with quenched steel shots under pressures of 20 psi, 30 psi and 40 psi. Finally, rotating bend fatigue tests were performed with unpeened and shot peened specimens aiming to establish the stress-life curves of the grade R4 structural steel. The fatigue life extension of the grade R4 structural steel was related to the shot peening. Regarding the results, the surface treatments affected the fatigue life of the material beneficially. This influence was characterized by a longer fatigue cycles and a fatigue life improvement. The results showed that the fatigue life extension was directly related to the shot peening intensity, i.e., the fatigue life extension has increased when increasing the shot peening intensity.

[pt] O presente trabalho apresenta um estudo da influência dos tratamentos térmicos de têmpera e revenido sôbre a resistência à fratura do aço estrutural R4, adotado na fabricação de elos para sistemas de ancoragem de unidade offshore e soldados pelo processo de centelhamento. Corpos de prova do tipo CT foram retirados da região da solda dos elos, usinados com orientação L-R e submetidos a diferentes tratamentos térmicos de têmpera (temperaturas de austenitização de 810, 840, 870 e 900ºC) e revenido (640 e 680ºC), num total de quatro condições microestruturais. Após pré-trincamento em fadiga, os corpos de prova foram submetidos a carregamento monotônico em tração, com o objetivo de se determinar a resistência à fratura do material com base no parâmetro CTOD (Crack Tip Opening Displacement). Os resultados do ensaio de CTOD demonstraram que houve uma redução da resistência à fratura do aço estrutural R4 com o aumento da temperatura de austenitização (810, 840 e 870°C) e temperatura de revenido de 640°C. Entretanto, para maiores temperaturas de austenitização (900°C) e revenido (680°C), houve um aumento do parâmetro CTOD. Modificações microestruturais no material causadas pelos tratamentos térmicos foram associadas com as variações da tenacidade. / [en] This study has been made concerning the influence of quenching and tempering heat treatments on the fracture resistance of a grade R4 structural steel, largely used for fabricating offshore mooring chains by flash welding. CT specimens were taken from the welded joints region in L-R and machined following orientation and subjected to different quenching (austenizing temperatures of 810, 840, 870 and 900ºC) and tempering (640 ºC and 680ºC) treatments, in a total of four microstructural conditions. After fatigue precracking, the specimens were monotonically loaded in tension in order to determine the fracture resistance of the material on the basis of the CTOD (Crack Tip Opening Displacement) parameter. The results of the CTOD tests showed that the fracture resistance of the grade R4 structural steel has decreased when increasing the austenitizing temperature (810, 840 and 870°C) and tempering at 640ºC. However, when adopting higher austenitizing (900°C) and tempering (680° C) temperatures, the parameter CTOD has increased. The microstructural modifications caused by the heat treatments were associated with the toughness modifications.

[pt] Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar a resistência de um sistema de ancoragem composto de pinos com cabeça embutidos no concreto, quando submetidos a cargas de impacto. A variável adotada foi a taxa de carregamento cujos valores mínimo e máximo foram 0,015 kN/s (estático) e 54.885 kN/s, respectivamente. O sistema de ancoragem foi projetado de forma que a ruptura fosse governada pelo arrancamento do cone de ruptura. Foram ensaiados onze blocos de concreto com um pino embutido no concreto, sujeitos a diferentes taxas de aplicação de carga. Foram também ensaiados quinze corpos-de-prova de concreto à compressão diametral e nove pinos à tração, também sujeitos a diferentes taxas de aplicação de carga. O objetivo desses ensaios foi verificar a influência da taxa de carregamento sobre as resistências dos materiais - concreto e aço - que participam do sistema de ancoragem. Os resultados mostraram que a área da superfície e a inclinação do cone de ruptura não sofrem grandes alterações. A carga de ruptura do cone de concreto cresce com a taxa de carregamento, e que esse crescimento pode ser descrito por uma função logarítmica. O mesmo foi observado para a resistência à tração do concreto por compressão diametral e para os pinos. / [en] This work investigates the strength of a concrete anchor system constituted of headed studs embedded in concrete subjected to impact tension load. The main variable was the loading rate which varied from a minimum of 0,015 kN/s (static) to a maximum of 54885 kN/s. The anchor system was designed so that the failure was governed by concrete cone breakout. Eleven concrete blocks with a single headed stud were tested under different loading rates. In addition, fifteen concrete cylinders subjected to compression along a diameter (split cylinder test) and nine headed studs subjected to tension were tested under different loading rates in order to investigate the effects of the loading rate on the strength of concrete and steel separately. The results showed that the area and the angle of the concrete cone were not affected by the loading rate. The failure load of the concrete cone increases as the loading rate increases and this phenomenon can be described by a logarithmic function. The concrete split tensile strength and the steel tensile strength also increase as the loading rate increases.