Cost–Benefit Assessment of Offshore Structures Considering Structural Deterioration

Offshore facilities are essential infrastructure systems for many nations because their partial or total interruption causes diverse consequences in the economic, political, environmental, and social sectors. With the aim to preserve such structures at acceptable reliability levels, an approach is proposed to calculate the optimal instant of time in which inspection and maintenance works can be performed. The optimal time instant is estimated following the cost benefit criterion (CB) considering the cost of inspection, repair and failure. The inspection cost is given by an inspection quality, while fatigue crack size at different critical joints is calculated to estimate repair costs. In this paper, the concept of demand exceedance rates is introduced to evaluate the failure cost. Uncertainties related to both storm and operational waves are considered. The optimal time instant is associated with the lowest cost of inspection, repair and failure. For this purpose, the approach is exemplified in an offshore jacket structure situated in the Gulf of Mexico. The optimal instant of time corresponds to 6 years after the offshore jacket installation. If maintenance actions are implemented every six years during the lifespan of the system, an economic reduction of 58% is achieved, compared to the case in which no inspection and maintenance works are performed over time. The approach helps decision-makers ensure the best use of economic resources.