Prediction of Airgap Statistics for Fixed Offshore Platforms

Author(s):  
A. Naess ◽  
O. Gaidai

Air gap statistics for offshore platforms is directly related to the extreme value statistics of the random ocean wave field. The present paper describes a new method for predicting the extreme values of a random wave field in both space and time. The method relies on the use of data provided by measurements or Monte Carlo simulation combined with a technique for estimating the extreme value distribution of a recorded time series. The time series in question represents the spatial extremes of the random field at each point in time. The time series is constructed by sampling the available realization of the random field over a suitable grid defining the domain in question and extracting the extreme value. This is done for each time point of a suitable time grid. Thus, a time series of spatial extremes is produced. This time series provides the basis for estimating the extreme value distribution using recently developed techniques for time series, which results in an accurate practical procedure for solving a very difficult problem. This procedure is applied to the prediction of air gap statistics for a jacket structure.

Author(s):  
Arvid Naess ◽  
Oleh Karpa

In the reliability engineering and design of offshore structures, probabilistic approaches are frequently adopted. They require the estimation of extreme quantiles of oceanographic data based on the statistical information. Due to strong correlation between such random variables as, e.g., wave heights and wind speeds (WS), application of the multivariate, or bivariate in the simplest case, extreme value theory is sometimes necessary. The paper focuses on the extension of the average conditional exceedance rate (ACER) method for prediction of extreme value statistics to the case of bivariate time series. Using the ACER method, it is possible to provide an accurate estimate of the extreme value distribution of a univariate time series. This is obtained by introducing a cascade of conditioning approximations to the true extreme value distribution. When it has been ascertained that this cascade has converged, an estimate of the extreme value distribution has been obtained. In this paper, it will be shown how the univariate ACER method can be extended in a natural way to also cover the case of bivariate data. Application of the bivariate ACER method will be demonstrated for measured coupled WS and wave height data.


Author(s):  
A. Naess ◽  
C. T. Stansberg ◽  
O. Batsevych

The paper presents a study of the extreme value statistics related to measurements on a scale model of a large tension leg platform (TLP) subjected to random waves in a wave basin. Extensive model tests were carried out in three irregular sea states. Time series of the motion responses and tether tension were recorded for a total of 18 three hour tests (full scale). In this paper we discuss the statistics of the measured tether tension. The focus is on a comparison of two alternative methods for the prediction of extreme tether tension from finite time series records. One method is based on expressing the extreme value distribution in terms of the average upcrossing rate. The other is a novel method that can account for statistical dependence in the recorded time series by utilizing a cascade of conditioning approximations. Both methods rely on introducing a specific parametric form for the tail part of the extreme value distribution. This is combined with an optimization procedure to determine the parameters involved, which allows prediction of various extreme response levels.


Author(s):  
A. Naess ◽  
E. Haug

The paper describes a new method for predicting the appropriate extreme value distribution derived from an observed time series. The method is based on introducing a cascade of conditioning approximations to the exact extreme value distribution. This allows for a rational way of capturing dependence effects in the time series. The performance of the method is compared with that of the peaks over threshold method.


Author(s):  
Arvid Naess ◽  
Oleh Karpa

In the reliability engineering and design of offshore structures probabilistic approaches are frequently adopted. They require the estimation of extreme quantiles of oceanographic data based on the statistical information. Due to strong correlation between such random variables as e.g. wave heights and wind speeds, application of the multivariate, or bivariate in the simplest case, extreme value theory is sometimes necessary. The paper focuses on the extension of the ACER method for prediction of extreme value statistics to the case of bivariate time series. Using the ACER method it is possible to provide an estimate of the exact extreme value distribution of a univariate time series. This is obtained by introducing a cascade of conditioning approximations to the exact extreme value distribution. When this cascade has converged, an estimate of the exact distribution has been obtained. In this paper it will be shown how the univariate ACER method can be extended in a natural way to also cover the case of bivariate data. Application of the bivariate ACER method will also be demonstrated at the measured coupled wind speed and wave height data.


Author(s):  
A. Naess ◽  
E. Haug

The paper describes a novel method for predicting the appropriate extreme value distribution derived from an observed time series. The method is based on introducing a cascade of conditioning approximations to the exact extreme value distribution. This allows for a rational way of capturing dependence effects in the time series. The performance of the method is compared with that of the peaks-over-threshold method.


Author(s):  
A. Naess ◽  
C. T. Stansberg ◽  
O. Batsevych

The paper presents a study of the extreme value statistics related to measurements on a scale model of a large tension leg platform (TLP) subjected to random waves in a wave basin. Extensive model tests were carried out in three irregular sea states. Time series of the motion responses and tether tension were recorded for a total of 18 three hour tests (full scale). In this paper we discuss the statistics of the measured tether tension. The focus is on a comparison of two alternative methods for the prediction of extreme tether tension from finite time series records. One method is based on expressing the extreme value distribution in terms of the average upcrossing rate (AUR). The other is a novel method that can account for statistical dependence in the recorded time series by utilizing a cascade of conditioning approximations obtained by defining the average conditional exceedance rates (ACER). Both methods rely on introducing a specific parametric form for the tail part of the extreme value distribution. This is combined with an optimization procedure to determine the parameters involved, which allows prediction of various extreme response levels.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adetola Adegbola ◽  
Arnold Yuan

Deterioration is a major problem facing engineering structures, systems and components (SSCs). To maintain the structural integrity and safe operation of such SSCs all through their service life, it is important to understand how degradation phenomena progress over time and space. Hence degradation modelling has been increasingly used to model existing deterioration, predict future deterioration as well as provide input for infrastructure management in terms of inspection and maintenance decision making. As deterioration is known to be random, modelling of spatial and temporal uncertainty remains a crucial challenge for infrastructure asset professionals. The main objective of the thesis is to develop sophisticated models for characterizing spatial and temporal uncertainties in deterioration modelling with a view to enhancing decision making under uncertainty. The thesis proposes a two-dimensional copula-based gamma distributed random field for the spatial uncertainties, and a copula-based multivariate gamma process model to characterize stochastic dependence of multiple degradation phenomena. Techniques for estimating the model parameters and simulating the field or process, prediction of the remaining lifetime distribution as well as condition-based maintenance optimization are also presented. To study the extreme value distribution of the random field, the thesis also presents a numerical method based on the Karhunen-Loève expansion for evaluating extrema of both one- and two-dimensional homogeneous random fields. The simulation results are benchmarked against existing analytical models for special cases. In addition, the study also investigates the effect of parameter (epistemic) uncertainty on the extreme value distribution of the field. Finally, the thesis presents a practical application of the proposed copula-based gamma field by treating the wall profile of a feeder pipe as one- and twodimensional gamma fields. The thesis demonstrates a practical application of the multivariate gamma process model to rutting, cracking, and surface roughness of highway pavements. In summary, the proposed models have advanced the knowledge and techniques of stochastic deterioration modelling in the engineering field.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Francesca Caruso ◽  
Marco Marani

Abstract. Accurate estimates of the probability of extreme sea levels are pivotal for assessing risk and the design of coastal defense structures. This probability is typically estimated by modelling observed sea-level records using one of a few statistical approaches. In this study we comparatively apply the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution, based on Block Maxima (BM) and Peak-Over-Threshold (POT) formulations, and the recently Metastatistical Extreme Value Distribution (MEVD) to four long time series of sea-level observations distributed along European coastlines. A cross-validation approach, dividing available data in separate calibration and test sub-samples, is used to compare their performances in high-quantile estimation. To address the limitations posed by the length of the observational time series, we quantify the estimation uncertainty associated with different calibration sample sizes, from 5 to 30 years. Focusing on events with a high return period, we find that the GEV-based approaches and MEVD perform similarly when considering short samples (5 years), while the MEVD estimates outperform the traditional methods when longer calibration sample sizes (10-30 years) are considered. We then investigate the influence of sea-level rise through 2100 on storm surges frequencies. The projections indicate an increase in the height of storm surges for a fixed return period that are spatially heterogeneous across the coastal locations explored.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Basso ◽  
Andrea Domin ◽  
Ralf Merz ◽  
Gianluca Botter ◽  
Arianna Miniussi

<p>Flood frequency curves are the basis to design ordinary engineering structures and devise strategies aimed at mitigating an increasing flood risk. Moreover, they are a crucial tool of risk assessment for insurance and reinsurance purposes. This work is concerned with the presence of abrupt increases of the flood frequency curve (i.e., sudden increments of streamflow magnitudes for a certain return period, named step changes), and investigate their occurrence by means of the physically-based extreme value distribution (PHEV!) of streamflow. This is an analytic probability distribution of extremes, which emerges from a lumped mechanistic-stochastic description of runoff generation and rainfall, soil moisture and discharge dynamics.</p><p>In the study, long synthetic time series of streamflow for river catchments exhibiting step changes have been generated and randomly resampled to construct sub-series of decreasing length. These shorter series are then used to test the performance of the PHEV!, of standard purely statistical distributions of the extremes, and of empirical observation-based estimates of the flood frequency curve in detecting the existence of a step change in the long time series from scarce data. Findings show that the PHEV! robustly detects the occurrence of step changes also when only short time series (e.g., 10 years) are used for parameter estimation. Conversely, the alternative methods tested mostly fails in this objective. These results indicate that the PHEV! might be a reliable tool for detecting the propensity of rivers to generate extreme floods in regions lacking long series of discharge observations.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 3527-3547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Mentaschi ◽  
Michalis Vousdoukas ◽  
Evangelos Voukouvalas ◽  
Ludovica Sartini ◽  
Luc Feyen ◽  
...  

Abstract. Statistical approaches to study extreme events require, by definition, long time series of data. In many scientific disciplines, these series are often subject to variations at different temporal scales that affect the frequency and intensity of their extremes. Therefore, the assumption of stationarity is violated and alternative methods to conventional stationary extreme value analysis (EVA) must be adopted. Using the example of environmental variables subject to climate change, in this study we introduce the transformed-stationary (TS) methodology for non-stationary EVA. This approach consists of (i) transforming a non-stationary time series into a stationary one, to which the stationary EVA theory can be applied, and (ii) reverse transforming the result into a non-stationary extreme value distribution. As a transformation, we propose and discuss a simple time-varying normalization of the signal and show that it enables a comprehensive formulation of non-stationary generalized extreme value (GEV) and generalized Pareto distribution (GPD) models with a constant shape parameter. A validation of the methodology is carried out on time series of significant wave height, residual water level, and river discharge, which show varying degrees of long-term and seasonal variability. The results from the proposed approach are comparable with the results from (a) a stationary EVA on quasi-stationary slices of non-stationary series and (b) the established method for non-stationary EVA. However, the proposed technique comes with advantages in both cases. For example, in contrast to (a), the proposed technique uses the whole time horizon of the series for the estimation of the extremes, allowing for a more accurate estimation of large return levels. Furthermore, with respect to (b), it decouples the detection of non-stationary patterns from the fitting of the extreme value distribution. As a result, the steps of the analysis are simplified and intermediate diagnostics are possible. In particular, the transformation can be carried out by means of simple statistical techniques such as low-pass filters based on the running mean and the standard deviation, and the fitting procedure is a stationary one with a few degrees of freedom and is easy to implement and control. An open-source MATLAB toolbox has been developed to cover this methodology, which is available at https://github.com/menta78/tsEva/ (Mentaschi et al., 2016).


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