Finite Element Modeling of Wet Lay-up CFRP Patch Repaired Corroded Offshore Steel Jacket Member

As the development and application of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials to different engineering structures are increasing, composite patching techniques are being considered as alternatives to traditional methods of repair to Jacket-type steel structures. The present paper describes a developed finite element model (FEM) of corroded tubular steel member, representative of offshore steel jacket member, and a FEM of wet lay-up CFRP patch repaired corroded tubular steel member using ANSYS software and ANSYS Composite PrepPost (ACP), which is an add-on module to ANSYS software. The numerical study results reveal that the three-ply composite patch reduces the maximum von-Mises stress, maximum stress intensity and maximum shear stress of the corroded tubular steel member by approximately 20.6%, 18.2% and 18.2%, respectively. Moreover, ply-wise stress and strain results indicate that maximum tensile stress and strain was observed in the first ply and maximum compressive stress and strain was noticed in the third ply. Failure analysis demonstrated that under first applied load and moment there is no critical region or critical failure criteria in composite patch, but under increased axial load of 1300 KN, composite patch fails.