Investigation of potential spudcan punch through failure. The safe and economic use of mobile jack-up structures is critical to the prosperous development of Australia's significant offshore oil and gas industry. However, their use is hindered by potential 'punch-through' failure during installation, when their large conical footings can unexpectedly and uncontrollably push a locally strong zone of soil into underlying softer material. To improve their safety, this research will investigate a po ....Investigation of potential spudcan punch through failure. The safe and economic use of mobile jack-up structures is critical to the prosperous development of Australia's significant offshore oil and gas industry. However, their use is hindered by potential 'punch-through' failure during installation, when their large conical footings can unexpectedly and uncontrollably push a locally strong zone of soil into underlying softer material. To improve their safety, this research will investigate a potential new site-investigation procedure and develop an appropriate calculation method for predicting failures for sites where sand overlies clay. Results will be based on a series of innovative physical and numerical experiments, and assessed against field data and existing industry standards.Read moreRead less
Interplay of Microbiological Corrosion and Alloy Microstructure in Failures of Advanced Stainless Steels and their Weldments in Marine Environments. The proposed research program investigates the role of microbiologically-induced corrosion (MIC) on stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of weldments of advanced stainless steels (SS). Extensive premature SCC failures of SS weldments have lately become increasingly significant in Australian marine industry, following the inability of advanced SCC-resista ....Interplay of Microbiological Corrosion and Alloy Microstructure in Failures of Advanced Stainless Steels and their Weldments in Marine Environments. The proposed research program investigates the role of microbiologically-induced corrosion (MIC) on stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of weldments of advanced stainless steels (SS). Extensive premature SCC failures of SS weldments have lately become increasingly significant in Australian marine industry, following the inability of advanced SCC-resistant SS to alleviate failures. Inconsistencies in SCC data call for an improved understanding of the role of MIC on SCC, particularly because recent failure analyses have indicated a profound role of microbiological activity on localised corrosion (viz., pitting) of stainless steels and their weldments, as well as because pitting is known to facilitate SCC initiation.Read moreRead less
Wave slam on high speed wave piercing catamaran ferries in large seas. Australia has taken a pioneering lead in the design of high speed multi-hull ferries and continues to extend their speed, range and payload performance. Design leadership and the technology which supports it are crucial to maintaining the existing large share of the international market for such vessels. Recently freight and military transport vessels have been exposed to much more severe wave conditions than passenger vessel ....Wave slam on high speed wave piercing catamaran ferries in large seas. Australia has taken a pioneering lead in the design of high speed multi-hull ferries and continues to extend their speed, range and payload performance. Design leadership and the technology which supports it are crucial to maintaining the existing large share of the international market for such vessels. Recently freight and military transport vessels have been exposed to much more severe wave conditions than passenger vessels and this has increased the need for improved prediction of structural loads due to waves. This project directly addresses that need by computation and model testing validation. The industry is a significant export earner and employer within Australia and so the project directly underpins those national benefits. Read moreRead less
Asymmetric and nonlinear unsteady loads on high speed ferries. Large high speed catamarans are expanding their domain of application from coastal passenger routes to ocean freight and military service. This is shifting operability criteria from motions and passenger discomfort to structural load limitations in severe wave environments. This project investigates large wave structural load prediction. Large waves lead to strongly non-linear responses, invalidating many methods of analysis. Predict ....Asymmetric and nonlinear unsteady loads on high speed ferries. Large high speed catamarans are expanding their domain of application from coastal passenger routes to ocean freight and military service. This is shifting operability criteria from motions and passenger discomfort to structural load limitations in severe wave environments. This project investigates large wave structural load prediction. Large waves lead to strongly non-linear responses, invalidating many methods of analysis. Prediction of loads on the transverse structure is also not possible with many prediction methods. This project will develop and validate by experiment fully time domain computational methods for the prediction of asymmetric structural loads due to large wavesRead moreRead less