scope:

General

Fatigue is addressed by all recognized standards and codes, which call for adequate safety against fatigue failure. This Recommended Practice presents recommendations in relation to riser fatigue analyses based on fatigue tests and fracture mechanics. Conditions for the validity of the Recommended Practice are given in Section 1.3.

The aim of fatigue design is to ensure that the risers have adequate fatigue life. Calculated fatigue lives also form the basis for efficient inspection programmes during fabrication and the operational life of the risers.

To ensure that the risers will fulfil its intended function, a fatigue assessment, supported where appropriate by a detailed fatigue analysis, should be carried out for each representative riser, which is subjected to fatigue loading. It should be noted that any element or part of the riser, every welded joint and attachments or other form of stress concentration, is potentially a source of fatigue cracking and should be individually considered.