Discussion

Dr Johnson: Paper 1

In order to put this work into perspective, it is worth considering what is meant by the environment. Before a structure is completed and exposed to the natural environment, its parts have been subjected to various unnatural environments such as heat and pressure, which means that when a structure is installed it already has within it some built-in complex stresses and strains. The natural environment and off-shore operations are therefore not the only factors contributing to the state of stress and strain of a structure at any given time. Let us take a brief look at some of the elements of the natural environment.