NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF THE STRESS CONCENTRATION IN REVERSE K-JOINTS

The reverse K-joints are widely used on offshore platforms, therefore, their strength is a very important issue for the safety evaluation of the platforms. Using ANSYS software, an FEM model of the reverse K-joint with welding seams is built. It is divided into several zones and each zone is meshed separately. The distribution of the hot-spot stress around the welding seams of the joints subjected to axial loads, in-plane bending (IPB) moments and out-of-plane bending (OPB) moments is analyzed. Based on the results of 105 reverse K-joints models, the stress concentration factor (SCF) around the wedling seams under these three basic loads is obtained. By analyzing the chord and the brace separately, the effects of geometrical parameters on the SCF and the hot-spot locations are studied.