Special issue on “Safety and intelligent maintenance of offshore structures” by China Ocean Engineering

The ocean, rich in mineral resources such as oil, natural gas, polymetallic nodules, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, polymetallic sulfides, and rare earth ore, plays an increasingly important role in resource development and economic growth. It is also regarded as an essential strategic space for sustainable development with abundant wind, wave, tidal, and solar energy. Compared with onshore structures, however, offshore structures, being complex, bulky, and expensive, have to endure various random loads that change over time and space, including wind, waves, currents, tides, sea ice, and even coupled with the abrupt treats from typhoons and earthquakes. In such harsh environment, hazards such as corrosion, marine biofouling, foundation softening, material aging, component defects and mechanical damage, and fatigue damage will lead to the deterioration of structural components and overall performances, thus affecting the safety and durability of the structures in service. Structural failure may not only cause heavy economic loss but also bring about severe environmental pollution and adverse social impacts. In this sense, it has both theoretical and practical values to conduct safety analysis of marine structures and carry out intelligent operation and maintenance so as to achieve the proactive control over marine projects and ensure safe and sustainable development of marine resources.

Given the aforementioned background, China Ocean Engineering (COE), a leading SCI journal in the field of ocean engineering in China, organized this special issue on “Safety and Intelligent Maintenance of Offshore Structures”, starting with a review paper by Prof. XU Wanhai, which mainly focuses on the existing methods that can be used to suppress the flow-induced vibrations (FIVs) of multiple cylinders, such as marine risers, mooring lines and subsea pipelines. The control methods, such as helical strakes, splitter plates, control rods and flexible sheets, are not always effective and depend on many influencing factors, such as the spacing ratio, the arrangement geometrical shape, the flow velocity and the parameters of the vibration control devices. The FIV response, hydrodynamic features and wake patterns of multiple cylinders equipped with vibration control devices are reviewed and summarized.

The special issue also covers 13 research papers, including the intelligent method for ice channel identification, the sound source location algorithm for subsea leakage, special mechanical behavior and safety monitoring of submarine pipelines, intelligent optimization design for the multilayer cross-sectional layout of the umbilical, mechanical performance of bioinspired bidirectional corrugated sandwich pressure shells, risk assessment and remaining useful life prediction for subsea systems, and dynamic monitoring of offshore platforms. The objective is to present some of the latest research results on the safety and intelligent maintenance of offshore structures from marine-related research institutes and universities, thereby promoting academic exchanges and providing references for peer scholars and technicians.

In summary, due to the special application environment of offshore structures, safety and intelligent maintenance problems are particularly prominent and have become bottlenecks for independent and controllable development. Scientific researchers around the world are calling for the continuation of innovative theoretical works and technological breakthroughs.

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References

DOI

10.1007/s13344-024-0016-z

Original URL for this whole issue

https://link.springer.com/journal/13344/volumes-and-issues/38-2

About China Ocean Engineering (COE)

China Ocean Engineering (COE), started publication in 1987, is a comprehensive academic bimonthly journal in English, indexed by several authoritative search databases, such as SCI-E, Ei, Scopus, AJ, CBST, CSA, and PA.
COE is concerned with all engineering aspects involved in the exploration and utilization of ocean resources. Topics regularly covered include research, design and construction of structures (including wharfs, dikes, breakwaters, platforms, mooring systems, etc.), instrumentation/testing (physical model and numerical model), wave dynamics, sedimentation, structural/stress analysis, soil mechanics, and material research.