A risk-informed decision support tool for holistic management of fatigue design, inspection and maintenance

Fatigue cracks threaten integrity of marine and offshore assets and need to be managed properly during the life cycles. However, the decision making process for fatigue design and maintenance are often disconnected and probably not be optimal with respect to life cycle total costs. This paper proposes a holistic decision support tool for jointly optimizing fatigue design, inspection and maintenance decision based on risk quantification and life cycle cost analysis, taking into account the uncertainties associated with fatigue deterioration, inspection performance and repair effect. The tool can be used to support risk-informed fatigue design; inspection and maintenance decision making, so that fracture risk associated with design and operation of marine assets are controlled with the minimum life cycle total costs.