High-Strength Concrete Development and Potentials for Platform Design

Abstract

Concrete offshore platforms have been used successfully in the North Sea s~nce 1973. Considerable effort has been made in various fields to improve and optimize the design of these platforms. The paper concentrates on the development of high-strength concrete and its consequences for design. This development has focused on producing concrete of higher quality and on obtaining knowledge of the major properties of the concrete in the existing platforms. The data basis for such knowledge is extensive. Nearly 2 million m 3 of concrete have been produced for the North Sea platforms, and the quality and performance extensively monitored through rigorous quality assurance systems and in-situ tests. The data indicate that the obtained quality in the platforms is high, uniform and predictable and that it exceeds the requirements of the design specifications with ample margins.The data and experience obtained suggest higher util ization of high-strength concrete than allowed in most design codes. This may result in significant material saving and more cost-effective structures, particularly for deepwater platforms.References and illustrations at end of paper.

Developments in Proposed ISO Guidelines for Design of Offshore Platforms to Resist Earthquakes

“…18 shows the COV (coefficient of variation) of concrete compressive strength (14 days) for current high quality concrete construction methods. 69,70,71,72 There is a trend of decreasing COV with increased compressive strength. This makes sense since higher quality assurance and control procedures are generally used for the very high concrete strength mixes.…”