Study on Fatigue Damage of Small-scale Isolated Piers Based on Rain-flow Counting Method

Abstract

The pier structure is a common infrastructure in marine engineering. The pier structure has been subjected to complex wave force for a long time, and fatigue failure is likely to occur over time, which may lead to the overall failure of the offshore infrastructure. Therefore, it is very important to analyze the fatigue damage of the pier structure. In this paper, a small-scale isolated pier is taken as an example. First of all, the wave force is simulated based on the Morison equation simulation. Then, the loop counting, which is based on the rain-flow counting method, is introduced. After obtaining the load cycles, the S-N curve theory and the Miner linearity cumulative damage theory are used to estimate fatigue damage. In this paper, a feasible method is proposed for the fatigue damage analysis of the pier structure, which is used as a reference for the design of the pier structure, and provides a means of verification for the subsequent structural fatigue damage analysis theory.