A Review of DNVGL-RP-F105 Fatigue Assessment Model or Why My Free Span Has Not Failed

Abstract The objective of a free span fatigue assessment is to provide a rational criterion to evaluate the long-term integrity of a free spanning pipeline, to which DNVGL-RP-F105 was developed. The Recommended Practice has a long history. Guideline 14, the foundation document to it, was released in 1998. The guidelines of the DNVGL-RP-F105 were gradually adopted by the industry for free spans analysis, and even API 1111 makes direct reference to it. Today, DNVGL-RP-F105 is the de facto Vortex Induced Vibration analysis guide for all applications where small number of bending driven modes are expected to be excited, overstepping its original purpose of free spanning pipelines and providing guidance when no other source exists. With such a long history, it is easy to forget the basis for the Recommended Practice fatigue model and obtain results that do not match expectations. A prime example is when assessing a free span based on survey and the fatigue life capacity calculated following the Recommended Practice is much smaller than the actual exposure time. In this situation one may ask “why my free span has not failed?” and conclude that the Recommended Practice is either too over conservative or plainly wrong. This paper reviews some key aspects of the DNVGL-RP-F105 fatigue model and explore their implication to fatigue design and assessment. And it hopes to clarify why your free span has not failed even when you expected it to.