Fatigue Performance of Sour Deepwater Riser Welds: Crack Growth vs. Endurance

Steel catenary risers (SCRs) are increasingly used in deepwater oil and gas developments. SCRs can be subject to low-stress high-cycle fatigue loading, for example from wave and tidal motion, vortex induced vibration (VIV) and operating loads, and corrosive environments (internal and external). When the production fluids are sour, higher fatigue crack growth rates (FCGRs) are expected and therefore shorter overall life compared to performance in air, as a result of the interaction between fatigue crack growth and sulphide stress cracking. Successful design of risers is critically dependent on the availability of appropriate experimental data to quantify the extent to which fatigue lives are reduced and rates of fatigue crack growth are increased. Historically there has been a discrepancy between experimental sour fatigue endurance data and fracture mechanics-based estimates of the corresponding stress-life (S-N) curves. This paper summarises the results of recent sour FCGR tests on C-Mn pipeline steel. Tests were performed under conditions of increasing applied stress intensity factor range (ΔK), on specimens containing shallow initial flaws and at very high stress ratios (R), to obtain data close to threshold. In many cases it is material behaviour at these low values of ΔK that dominate the fatigue life (e.g. VIV loading). The FCGR data are then compared to sour fatigue endurance data, both published and from a TWI Joint Industry Project (JIP). The observed environmental reduction factor (ERF) for endurance tests is compared to that expected from the difference in fatigue crack propagation rates, to examine whether FCGR data might provide an alternative means of predicting ERFs. This paper offers valuable insight into current best practice methods for generating sour FCGR data when qualifying girth welds for sour service, and the relationship between fatigue crack growth and fatigue endurance.