Abstract: This paper provides a brief review of the methodological composition of Risk Based Inspection (RBI) and the application of the methodology for safeguarding hull integrity of offshore floating structures, with fatigue as primary degradation mechanism. The work has a distinct focus on the opportunities RBI has to offer in combination with Structural Health Monitoring. In order to provide a clear picture of the state of the art knowledge, the current practices and regulations are briefly discussed after which the RBI methodology is introduced, the differences in guidelines and applications discussed and an 8-step approach is proposed. Subsequently, the methodology is outlined as an instrument for determining the residual fatigue life and the inspection scope and –schedule and the methodological embedding within an Advisory Hull Monitoring System is discussed and proposed.
This paper outlines an investigation into the updating of fatigue reliability through inspection data by means of structural correlation. The proposed methodology is based on the random nature of fatigue fracture growth and the probability of damage detection and introduces a direct link between predicted crack size and inspection results. A distinct focus is applied on opportunities for utilizing inspection information for the updating of both inspected and uninspected (or uninspectable) locations.
The aim of this paper is to show the benefits of enhancing classic Risk Based Inspection (without fatigue monitoring data) with an Advisory Hull Monitoring System (AHMS) to monitor and justify lifetime consumption to provide more thorough grounds for operational, inspection, repair and maintenance decisions whilst demonstrating regulatory compliance.
