For the past few years there has been a major industry initiative to harmonize worldwide, offshore design practices as ISO standards. One of the work groups has been focused on fixed steel structures, and within that group is a panel responsible for substructure design. That panel has several core technical groups, including one that is addressing fatigue and strength of joints. These subjects have been aggressively researched in the past two decades. The core group has not only had to agree on a common set of technical criteria, but also incorporate recent research findings that are not yet included in such documents as API RP2A and the UK HSE Guidance Notes. The subject paper provides an overview of the joints core group activities and discusses the details of some of the key decisions with respect to static strength. Key ongoing research with respect to static strength is also identified, if known. The new ISO guidance on fatigue strength is to be presented at another conference.
No one should doubt that the oil industry of today represents international business. By 1987, the US contained about 83% of the producing wells, but only 19% of the crude oil production by volume. The American Petroleum Institute has published design standards for decades, and these have generally been focused on US usage and requirements. As crude oil and natural gas production outside of the US has grown, other parts of the world have seen API standards supplemented or replaced by local, national, or regional standards. Meanwhile, oil companies have realized there are incentives to internationalization of their standards, especially with respect to "upstream" segments of the business. A voidance of multiple standards on a given product can lead to cost savings in design and purchase of that product as well as cost savings associated with maintenance of the standards themselves.
