A General Formulation for the Strength Design of Axially Loaded Planar and Multiplanar Tubular Joints

Abstract

A database of newly generated numerical strengths of planar and multiplanar joints was used to assess the current offshore design code methodologies and to derive a new design equation, based on the AWS ovalization parameter concept. Within defined geometric limits, the proposed equation has been found to be generally applicable to any axially loaded joint configuration, provided that the braces do not overlap. It negates the need for potentially subjective brace classification to be carried out and accounts fully for planar and multiplanar effects. The proposed equation is fully validated against the planar and multiplanar data in the screened database complied by MSL Engineering, and has been shown to have similar accuracy as the existing design equations advocated by ISO, yet have significantly wider validity.