IDENTIFICATION OF STRUCTURAL DAMAGES IN FIXED OFFSHORE PLATFORMS

This paper reports on some preliminary developments towards a simplified procedure to identify tubular joint damages which frequently occur in fixed offshore framed structures. To this aim two small scale models were designed and constructed to the principles of Similitude Theory. An experimental modal analysis technique was applied to obtain their dynamic characteristics. It is shown that certain common types of joint damages in these structures can be identified by looking at changes of some modal parameters.