Development of Fatigue Design Standards for Marine Structures

Abstract

Fatigue design standards for offshore structures became needed with development of offshore structures in harsh environments like the North Sea during the 1970s. The need for fatigue design of ship structures became increased as more high strength steel was being used in these structures during the 1970s. New types of structures and structural components have been developed such as tension leg platforms and floating production platforms and support structures for wind turbines. These structures are subjected to significant dynamic loading such that fatigue design becomes the main issue and relevant fatigue design standards are needed. This paper gives an overview of the development of fatigue design standards for marine structures over the last 40 years.