O

OTC 2301
12
S
SCORCH JIP: Exa
amination
n and Tes
sting of S
Severely-C
Corroded
d Mooring
g
C
Chains frrom Westt Africa
E
Emmanuel Fo
ontaine, Andre
ew Potts, AMOG Consultin
ng; Kai-tung M
Ma, Chevron Energy Technology Comp
pany;
A
Alberto Arredo
ondo, Vicinay
y Cadenas; Robert E. Melc
chers, The Un
niversity of Ne
ewcastle, Ausstralia

C
Copyright 2012, Offshore Technology Confere
ence
T
This paper was prepare
ed for presentation at the Offshore Technolog
gy Conference held in Houston, Texas, USA , 30 April3 May 2012 .
T
This paper was selected for presentation by an
a OTC program comm
mittee following review
w of information containned in an abstract subm
mitted by the author(s)). Contents of the pape
er have not been
re
eviewed by the Offshore Technology Confere
ence and are subject to
o correction by the autthor(s). The material dooes not necessarily re
eflect any position of the Offshore Technologyy Conference, its
officers, or members. Electronic
E
reproduction
n, distribution, or stora
age of any part of this paper without the wriitten consent of the O
Offshore Technology C
Conference is prohibite
ed. Permission to
re
eproduce in print is res
stricted to an abstract of
o not more than 300 words;
w
illustrations mayy not be copied. The abbstract must contain co
onspicuous acknowled
dgment of OTC copyrig
ght.

A
Abstract
T
The paper desccribes a forensiic investigation
n performed on
n severely corr
rroded (pitted) chains recoverred from a FSO
O mooring
ssystem in Westt Africa. Durin
ng the investigaation, it becam
me apparent thaat a similar pheenomenon had been experiennced by JIP
pparticipants opeerating at otherr locations in West
W Africa, in
ndicating that itt may be a com
mmon problem
m deserving atteention. The
tentative conclusion of the present
p
investiigation is that the large pitss most likely ccan be attribuuted to Microbbiologically
IInfluenced Corrrosion (MIC). Subsequent pull
p tests of thee chains to dettermine their reesidual strengtth gave surprissingly good
rresults. Despitte the large red
duction in crosss-sectional areea, the effectivve breaking loaads of the testeed samples werre found to
bbe around 80-9
90% of the cataalogue minimum
m breaking loaad (MBL). Thhe results also sshowed the chaain links to be resilient in
sstrength.
Introduction
T
This paper sum
mmarizes somee of the on-goin
ng work by th
he SCORCH JIIP on corrodedd/pitted chain llinks that weree recovered
ffrom a Floating
g Storage Offlo
oading (FSO) system
s
based in
i West Africaa. Although theese links were in service for only seven
yyears, they exp
perienced severre pitting corro
osion (Figure 1)
1 not noted prreviously in anny available reecords. In some cases the
ppitting caused a reduction in cross-sectionaal area of 35%
%. The chain linnks, which exhhibited strong signs of corroosion, were
ddonated by the operator to thee JIP for reseaarch. They weree shipped to V
Vicinay Cadenaas in Spain for examination aand testing.
T
This was perforrmed according
g to the SCOR
RCH JIP examin
nation proceduure. It is designned to gather alll information required to
pperform a scien
ntific analysis in
i order to expllain the observ
ved corrosion.
T
The FSO and itts mooring sysstem were instaalled in shallow
w water offshoore West Africa in 1997. Thhe external turret mooring
ssystem used a 6-leg all-chain
n design. The mooring chain
ns were not isoolated from thhe vessel hull, and thus mighht have had
ssome limited co
overage by thee Impressed Cu
urrent Cathodicc Protection (IC
CCP) system oon the vessel. T
The mooring legs consist
oof four sectionss, provided by three different vendors (num
mbered 1 to 3),, as illustrated in Figure 2. IInitially, there were three
with a catenarry inflection w
ssegments, a top
p and a bottom
m section prov
vided by the same
s
vendor, w
weight (CIW) inserted to
inncrease clearan
nce and avoid clashing with the bow. Secction 2 hangs ffrom the CIW,, serving as a cclump weight. Section 3
w
was inserted beetween the CIW
W and the grou
und chain when
n the FSO wass relocated to a slightly deepeer water depthh. All three
tyypes of chain are
a 76mm in diameter.
d
An early
e
hypothesiis theorized thaat the dissimilaarity of the thrree materials w
was the root
ccause of the observed severe pitting
p
corrosio
on. The presen
nt investigationn disproves thiss hypothesis.
D
During the ann
nual chain surv
vey in 2005, so
ome visible co
orrosion on thee chains immeddiately above w
waterline was noted. To
ddetermine the extent
e
of metall loss, rope meen were sent do
own to measurre those chain llinks in air usiing a caliper. T
The survey
sshowed that th
he in-air links had lost somee cross-section
nal area, apparrently due to tthe well-knownn splash-zone effect [5].
T
Their remainin
ng areas were still within alllowable limitss at that time.. During insppection in 20007, pitting corrrosion was
oobserved for th
he first time du
uring a diver in
nspection afterr heavy marinee growth was rremoved (see F
Figure 3). Hoowever, the
eextent and seveerity of the pro
oblem was not evident at th
he time. In 20009, a decisionn was made to change out thhe mooring
ssystem. When all chains werre recovered to
o terra firma and
a marine groowth was remooved, it was found that the coondition of
thhe submerged chains was as poor as the spllash-zone chain
ns, although thhe damage was of a different form.

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Figu
ure 1: Pictures
s of a recoverred link (Left) and its assocciated 3D Pho
otogrammetryy (Right)

Figure 2: The chains in

n the mooring
g system cam e from 3 diffe
erent manufaccturers

ore cleaning (left), and sho

owing pits afte
er cleaning byy underwater divers
Figure 3: Marine-fouled chains befo
nter and right))
(cen

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OTC 23012

Figure 4: Reco
overed chains in temporaryy storage in W
West Africa.
T
The submerged
d chains sufferred a distinctiv
ve type of extreme pitting aas can be seenn on Figure 4, as opposed too the small
ppitting common
nly seen on oth
her steel compo
onents used offfshore. Upon the solicitationn from the SCO
ORCH JIP, a sselection of
6 chain samplees, totaling 27 links, was shipped by the operator
o
to Viccinay Cadenass in Spain for further examiination and
rresearch. To mitigate
m
the pittting problem, the
t operator ch
hose to apply T
Thermally Spraayed Aluminum
m (TSA) coatiing on new
cchains for the replacement mo
ooring system.
E
Examination of the Samp
ple Chains
T
The experimental investigatio
on was perform
med on a set off 27 links of 766mm-diameter chain of type R
R3 and ORQ ggrades. For
eeach link, a deetailed examination was perfformed involving measurem
ment of cross-section diameteer (as per APII-2SK) and
ddetailed 3D ph
hotogrammetry
y. The photog
grammetry of the
t chain linkss was perform
med with two hhand-held laserr scanners,
H
Handyscan EX
XAscan and Haandyscan REV
Vscan. The acccuracy of theese scanners iss up to 0.04m
mm, and the reesolution is
00.05mm. The captured
c
data was then editeed with software. The resuult of the phottogrammetry w
was a point cloud of the
aanalyzed links from which th
he link surface was reconstruccted as shown in Figure 1. IIn order to impprove the meshhing results
aaround the link
k sections wherre the geometrry is complex such
s
as the stuud area and thee pit corrosionn areas, a trianggular mesh
w
was created usiing a sample off points from th
he point cloud.. The meshes w
were further ussed in Finite Element Analyssis (FEA).
A pattern recognition algoritthm was then used to draw a map of thee surface topoggraphy and piit depths acrosss the link.
IIndividual pits were identified (as shown in
n Figure 5) and
d measured to obtain pit deptth and area. L
Loss of cross-section area
ddue to the pits also
a was assesssed.
T
Tests also weree made on speecific links to assess
a
materiall properties, suuch as mappingg of the Bridnnell and Vickerrs hardness
aalong the link cross-section in
i the crown area
a
and tensille test (strain-sstress curve). Destructive teests by tensile load were
ffinally perform
med on each of the
t 6 sets of ch
hain links.
T
The environmeental factors (ee.g. water temp
perature, marin
ne growth, watter compositioon, oxygen conntent, nutrient, etc.) were
aalso measured or
o characterizeed at the FSO site
s to assist in gaining underrstanding of thee corrosion proocess. Table 1 shows the
temperature graadient with watter depth at thee FSO site.
Table
e 1: Water Te
emperature att the FSO Site
e
Water Depth (m)
0
10
20
30

Mean Tem
mperature
(C
C)
28.2
28
8
27.1
24.9

Standard D
Deviation
(C)
1.25
5
1.25
5
1.71
1
2.65
5

OTC 23012

Figure 5:
5 Pictures of a Recovered Link (Right) a
and 3D Photo
ogrammetry (Left)
B
Because microb
biologically in
nfluenced corro
osion was susp
pected, the JIP requested the operator to taake a water sam
mple at the
P
PSO site. The sample was su
ubject to the usual
u
water quaality protocolss and analyzedd in Nigeria at a certified waater quality
laaboratory. Thee water quality
y results show
wed high nitratee levels, muchh higher than iis normal for coastal seawatters. Given
aavailable reseaarch on the efffect of nutrien
nt levels on th
he corrosion oof mild steel in seawater [66] this suggested a high
liikelihood of baacterial related
d corrosion. Th
he most likely source of elevvated nitrate levvels is agriculttural fertilizer runoff into
rrivers that drain
n into the sea.
X
X-Ray Diffrac
ction Examin
nation
R
Rust samples were
w
taken from
m inside a typ
pical pit and th
hese were subj ect to X-Ray Diffraction (X
XRD) to help identify the
ccorrosion produ
ucts. Three saamples were tak
ken: (i) outer layer
l
of the russted link, (ii) tthe center of thhe corrosion prroduct, and
((iii) close to thee base metal.
Table 2: Pos
ssible Causes
s of the Obserrved Pitting C
Corrosion
Causee
Stray current
corrossion
Dissim
milar metals
Generral corrosion
Inter granular
g
corrossion
Selecttive
corrossion

Stresss corrosion
Bacteerial /
micro
obial

Possibility/deescription/effecct
Remotely po
ossible, but unllikely. Occurs as an easy exitt point for DC current on a
return to the generator. Has the appearannce of a weld sp
sputter - the useed end of an
pically a hole in
i a coated pip e line.
electrode, typ
Remotely po
ossible. Appearrs as more genneral corrosionn - not pitting - will be
directly adjaccent less noblee metal such ass s/steel, bronzee, Cu etc.
Probably starrted as such bu
ut has degenerrated
Probably co
ontributed due to the XRD obbserved base m
metal and alloyss in the chain.
Probably a significant facctor combined w
with MIC. Rem
moval of one ellement from a
solid alloy - most
m commonlyy seen as dezinncification of bbrass. Also seenn as
graphitization, removal of ferrite
f
(active ccomponent) froom grey cast irron (graphite iss
very noble). This
T is similar to galvanic coorrosion and foor all intents annd purposes
can be consid
dered the proceess in this casee.
May have contributed, butt with minimall effect.
Probably major
m
contributo
or. Not only baacteria but alsoo fungi and othher microorganisms. Id
deal conditionss, plenty of nuttrients in the seeawater, compoosition of
corrosion pro
oduct phases, extra
e
ordinary loss, and to soome degree thee topography off
the cleaned metal.
m

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OTC 23012

T
The results of the
t XRD show
w that the norm
mal corrosion prroducts associaated with corroosion of steel iin seawater weere present.
H
However, the results also showed somee corrosion prroducts not uusually associaated with genneral corrosioon, namely
S
Szomolnokite (an iron sulph
hate compound) and Sjoegrrenite (a magnnesium-iron caarbonate hydroxide). The irron sulfate
ccompound suggested the posssibility of sulfate reducing bacteria beingg involved in tthe corrosion pprocess and iss known to
pproduce particu
ularly low pH values. Since it is difficult to conclude poositively from corrosion prooducts what miight be the
uunderlying cau
use of corrosio
on, or even wh
hat might conttribute to it, a risk analysis was undertakken to assess to potential
innfluencing facctors. Table 2 shows the facctors [1]. Overall this analyysis suggests thhat there is a high likelihoood that the
oobserved pitting
g is the result of
o MIC. The reesults of water quality sampliing tend to suppport the theoryy of MIC attackk.
E
Estimated Co
orrosion Rates
R
Results of the 3D
3 photogramm
metry were posst-processed ussing pattern reccognition softw
ware. Corrosioon was mappedd with high
aaccuracy all ov
ver the surfacee of the link fo
or 25 links. Th
he results from
m this analysis can be interprreted as showinng that the
loong-term corro
osion rate for these links iss approximatelly 1.5 mm/yeaar of diameterr reduction forr the pitted areas, which
ssignificantly diiffers from the average corrosion rate of 0.4
4 mm/year givven in, for exam
mple, API RP--2SK [4]. It is noted here
thhat averaged surface
s
water temperature att the location is around 28C
C, which is w
warmer than thhe water tempeeratures on
w
which the stand
dards were based.
T
The present daata showed thatt the overall co
orrosion rate for
f diameter looss was indepeendent of the ssteel propertiess as similar
vvalues for the pit
p depth were measured on chain links fro
om two differeent manufacturrers. This is coonsistent with findings in
thhe corrosion science literaturre that show th
hat relatively small
s
variationns in material pproperties havee little practicaal effect on
inn-situ corrosio
on rates [7].
T
The full pit deepth data (85 identified vallues across 25
5 links) was pprocessed to ddetermine the type of Extreeme Value
ddistribution is appropriate
a
to represent pittiing depth. Hisstorically the pprobability disttribution assocciated with the maximum
ppit depth is the Gumbel distriibution. The pit data may be plotted
p
on a soo-called Gumbbel plot (Figuree 6). The left haand axis of
thhe Gumbel plo
ot is a measuree of the probab
bility of exceedence (see stan
andard texts forr details). A sttraight trend line through
thhe data indicattes that the max
ximum pit dep
pth follow a Gu
umbel distributtion. This is noormally the case for short expposures [2].
H
However, for lo
onger exposurees it has been found,
f
repeated
dly, that the daata trend in twoo distinct patterrns on a Gumbbel plot and
thhis has been associated
a
with
h a change in the
t pitting behaavior with incrreased exposurre time. Figuree 6 shows thatt this is the
ccase also for the
t maximum pit depth for the West Afriica links. It caan be shown that the lowerr trend curve follows an
E
Exponential disstribution.

Figure 6: Gumbel
G
plot fo
or maximum pit
p depth data showing disttinctly differen
nt trends. The
e upper trend can be
shown to be Frechet distrributed and th
he lower is ap
pproximately E
Exponential. N
Note w is the standardized
d from of
proba
ability of exce
eedence on a Gumbel plott.

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O
Of more interesst is the upper trend curve fo
or the deepest pits.
p It can be sshown to follow
w a Frechet exxtreme value ddistribution.
T
This predicts a much greateer pit depth fo
or a given pro
obability of exxceedence thann would be ppredicted by thhe Gumbel
ddistribution. Th
hese findings from the extreeme value anaalysis of long tterm corrosionn pit depths arre consistent w
with recent
bbreakthrough observations
o
for
fo the changin
ng nature of the extreme ddistribution off maximum piit depths withh increased
eexposure time [2]. A more detailed
d
descrip
ption of the maximum
m
pit ddepth with a giiven probabilitty of exceedennce and its
eevolution with time will become available following
fo
the detailed
d
studies currently in prrogress as partt of the SCORC
CH JIP.

D
Destructive Tensile
T
Tests
s
D
Destructive pullling tests also performed on each of the 6 sets
s of links. F
Figure 7 showss the testing m
machine used. D
Despite the
cchain link crosss-section bein
ng significantly
y reduced (up to 40%) as thhe pit depth eextend up to 335% of the diaameter, the
rremaining stren
ngth of the chaain links was found to be no
ot significantlyy lower than thhe manufacturrers cataloguee Minimum
B
Breaking Load (MBL). The effective break
king loads werre around 80-900% of the cataalogue MBL deespite the largee reduction
inn diameter. Itt should be notted that the tru
ue breaking strrengths of thesse chains are, oof course, unkn
known, and couuld be well
aabove the MBL
L. Thus, the 80
0-90% residuall strength should be quoted w
with care.

Figure 7: 2500 to
on Break Tes
st Machine (Ph
hoto courtesyy of Vicinay).
The results of the load testing arre detailed in Figure
F
8. Notee that the varioous samples haave a different
num
mber of links. This explain why
w the differrence in the eelongations seeen in the curvves. However,
scaling the elongaations by the number of lin
nks shows thaat the curves aare closely coonsistent. It is
t samples aree performing w
well as most oof them reach 90% of MBL
interresting to notee that overall the
befo
ore breaking.

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OTC 23012

Figure 8: Axiial chain load as a function

n of elongation for 6 Chain Samples sho
own with com
mparable nominal proof
and ultima
ate load capa
acities

F
FEA Assessm
ment of Residual Strengtth
A
An FE analysis was conducted in order to establish the level of ccorrelation of an FEA approach to chaiin capacity
ddetermination with
w that deteermined from physical testin
ng. The physsical tensile teest conducted on the 4L chaain sample
inncorporating liinks 4L1, 4L2 and 4L3 was reproduced
r
num
merically. Thee digitized surrface contours oof the chain saample were
uused as a basiss for the creattion of the finite element mode of the 4L
L chain samplee. The 3D CA
AD representattion of the
aanalysis model is shown in th
he left of Figuree 9.

gure 9: CAD representatio

r
EA stress and
d deformation
n plot (right)
Fig
n of chain sample (left); FE
T
The capacity of
o a chain link has previously
y been demon
nstrated by AM
MOG to be sennsitive to the ffriction coefficcient at the
ccontact points between
b
the lin
nks [3]. Due to
o the corrosion
n and pitting off the chain surrface the frictioon coefficient iis expected
too be higher th
han would be expected
e
for un
ncorroded steeel surfaces. Foor this reason ttwo friction cooefficients of 00.2 and 0.4
w
were used to prredict the likelly upper and lo
ower bound caapacity of the cchain sample. The simulatioons were conduucted using
thhe materials strain-stress cu
urve (showing
g non-linear material
m
hardenning) measuredd by mean of a laboratory ttensile test
cconducted on a sample from chain
c
link 4L4. It should be noted
n
that variaation in strengtth between chaain links and w
within chain
liinks is expecteed (and known to manufacturrers) and thus the
t material cuurve determined from link 4L
L4 is not necessarily fully
rrepresentative of
o the materiall within the sim
mulated links. A predicted sttress plot superrimposed on thhe deformed shhape of the
cchain sample fo
or an intermediiate load condiition is shown in
i right of Figuure 9.

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The chain strength predicted for the two friction coefficients are presented in Table 3. The chain strength determined by
physical testing is presented for comparison. The percentage errors in the predicted strengths with respect to the testdetermined capacity are shown for both simulations. It is evident that the strength, determined by physical test, falls within
the upper region of the predicted strength-band. It suggests that a friction coefficient of around 0.35 could produce a good
result for the corroded links. The simulation indicates that the 4L3 link is limiting for strength. This is consistent with the
elongation measurements taken of the tested chain sample, which shows that the 4L3 link had the largest elongations of the
three links.
These experimental results have to be interpreted carefully in conjunction with FEA using the meshes that are available for
the corroded links. The correlation of these predicted results with the test data serves to demonstrate the validity of the FEA
approach employed. This highlights the value that can be gained from the use of this approach in determining the residual
capacity of installed mooring chains that have been subject to significant levels of corrosion or wear. With the test database
that has been gathered, it is possible to calibrate and validate a FEA type of approach to predict the ultimate strength of
corroded chain links.
Table 3: Comparison of Measured and Predicted Chain Capacity
Name
Friction Coefficient
Remaining Capacity
Percentage error

Measured
Capacity (tonnes)
437
-

Predicted Capacity (tonnes)

0.2
410
-6.0%

0.4
448
2.5%

Discussion
Given the observations reported herein of severe pitting, it would be interesting to monitor the condition of the replacement
chains that are protected by TSA coating. Feedbacks from the operator after two years of use suggest that the new chains are
still in good condition. However, it is likely that it is still too early to judge the effectiveness of the coating protection. Ideas
around other mitigation methods may be suggested for the mooring industry as potential future work.
The present results are based on a relatively small number of observations and must therefore be interpreted with care. As the
SCORCH JIP project progresses, more information will become available and this will be made available in due course.
Nevertheless, it is considered that the findings herein are important for the industry and for risk assessment of mooring
systems and for that reason are reported at this time.
Conclusions
This paper summarizes preliminary results of the investigations that were performed by SCORCH JIP on mooring chains
affected by severe pitting corrosion. These chain links were in tropical seawater from West Africa for only 7 years. The
following conclusion were draw from the investigation:
1.

2.

3.

4.

The large pits observed, sometimes leading to reduction in diameter of the order of 35%, most likely can be
attributed to Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC). The warm water and high nitrogen content in the
seawater is considered to be appropriate for this to occur, particularly since the severe pitting was observed only in
the suspended section of the submerged chains, i.e. below the splash zone and above mud line.
The effective breaking loads were around 80-90% of the catalogue MBL despite the large reduction in crosssectional area (sometimes of the order of 35%). Such a resilient behavior from such highly corroded links was
unexpected. The finding could serve as an input when condition assessments are conducted on aged mooring
systems in the offshore oil industry. This conclusion is preliminary since the number of test is relatively small.
The corrosion rates deduced from the observations are significantly higher than the values recommended in existing
codes and Class Rules. This suggests it may be appropriate for the codes to be revised and the current design
practice updated to account for the effects such as seawater temperature, location of the mooring system, etc.
The long-term corrosion rate appears to follow a Frechet distribution instead of a Gumbel distribution in agreement
with the latest findings in the field of corrosion. One implication is that a large number of chain links need to be
examined (typically 25) to obtain a sufficient number of maximum pit depth results for accurate statistical analysis.
This should be kept in mind for future examinations.

OTC 23012

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Chevrons operation team in West Africa for donating the used chains and supporting the
investigation. This work was performed within the scope of work of the SCORCH JIP which involves the following
companies: ABS, Arcelormittal, BOEMRE, BP, Bridon, Bureau Veritas, Chevron, DNV, ExxonMobil, Franklin Offshore,
INPEX, Onesteel, Petrobras, Shell, SOFEC, Total, Vicinay Cadenas and Vryhof Anchors.
References:
[1] Jeffrey, R. personal communication (email) Results of X-Ray diffraction, 18th March 2011.
[2] Melchers, R.E. (2008) Extreme value statistics and long-term marine pitting corrosion of steel. Probabilistic
Engineering Mechanics 23 (2008) 482488
[3] AMOG, "West Africa Chain Strength Test Simulation", Document No. n2011.r001.wbs111.01, 6th October 2011
[4] API RP-2SK, Design and Analysis of Station-keeping Systems for Floating Structures, API, Third Edition, October
2005.
[5] Ma, KT, Presentation Splash Zone Corrosion Assessment on Mooring Chains in West Africa, SCORCH JIP meeting,
FPSO Forum, Aberdeen, October 15, 2010.
[6] Melchers RE (2004) Effect of small compositional changes on marine immersion corrosion of low alloy steel, Corrosion
Science, 46(7) 1669-1691.
[7] Melchers RE (2007) The influence of seawater nutrient content on the early immersion corrosion of mild steel 1
Empirical observations, Corrosion (NACE) 63(1) 318-329.