Assessment of Materials in Ageing Offshore Structures

This book provides essential knowledge and techniques required to assess materials for extending the life of ageing offshore structures used for energy production. With over half of these structures currently in a life extension phase, the effects of ageing and degradation are at the forefront of the industry.

The book presents the changes in industry practices and key technological advancements that have shaped the field since its inception. It reviews the original properties of the materials employed in offshore structures and provides a deep understanding of their behaviour as they age over time. The relevant degradation processes are investigated for offshore structural materials such as steel, welds, bolted joints, concrete, grout, reinforcement, pre-tensioning and non-metallic materials (including coatings and composites). Materials engineers will be equipped with the necessary tools in this book to evaluate materials in existing ageing structures.

The book goes beyond theoretical knowledge, providing practical insights into assessing the performance of materials in ageing structures. With a focus on ensuring the efficient and safe continued use of existing infrastructure, engineers will find useful guidance to inform decision-making and facilitate the assessment process. The book brings together a wide range of research findings relevant to the topic and offers an updated summary of material assessment techniques that are largely difficult or even impossible to access publicly.

This book is an invaluable resource for practising materials engineers, offshore engineering professionals, or materials engineering students.

Dr.John V. Sharp has over 40 years experience in the offshore industry. He was initially responsible for managing a portfolio of safety research projects funded by the Department of Energy. This included being chairman of the Management Committee for the jointly funded industry and government’s Concrete in the Oceans research programme. He was also Secretary of the Steering Committee for the UK Offshore Steels Research programme. He subsequently held a senior position in the Offshore Safety Division of UK Health & Safety Executive with responsibility for their multi-million pound research programme. His special interests are in structural integrity, inspection, repair and life extension. He has carried out consultancy work for a number of organisations  including the  Petroleum Safety Authority  in Norway and the offshore industry.

He is presently Visiting Professor at Cranfield University where he has been involved in lecturing and teaching on both offshore oil and gas and marine renewables. He was a Commissioner for the Alderney Commission for Renewable Energy with special interests in tidal energy. He is Chairman of the Society of Underwater Technology’s Committee on Marine Renewable Energy. He has published over 100 papers on offshore integrity and is a co-author of a book published by Wiley in 2019 on Ageing and Life Extension of Offshore Structures. He is also the lead author of a book on Inspection and Repair of Offshore structures published by Wiley in 2021.

John Wintle is a consultant mechanical engineer and a recognised international technical authority in the field of asset life management, particularly of offshore structures and pressure systems in the energy sectors. After over 25 years as a Technology Fellow and Consultant Engineer for TWI Limited (The Welding Institute), John Wintle is now an independent consultant combining consultancy with other professional appointments. He continues to advise the offshore oil and gas industry and regulators and is a Contributing Expert to and the UK Technical Advisory Group on Structural Integrity.

His many reports and publications on the structural integrity and life extension of ageing assets include the Energy Institute Guidance on Life Extension of Offshore Installations and the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Research Report 509 on the Management of Plant Ageing and reports for HSE and the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway on Life Extension of Offshore Structures. He was a keynote speaker at the launch of HSEs Key Programme 4 on Ageing and Life Extension and peer reviewer of the book on Ageing and Life Extension of Offshore Structures published by Wiley (2019). He often gives courses on structural integrity and lectures at the University of Strathclyde where he is a Visiting Professor.