A large multinational offshore drilling company contacted Applied Ultrasonics seeking to improve the durability and reliability of a derrick structure. The original discussion focused on applying Applied Ultrasonics’ Esonix UIT process to the derrick retrofit design; however, Applied Ultrasonics’ engineering staff immediately recognized that Esonix UIT alone would not provide optimum results.
The customer agreed with the Engineering Services approach recommended by Applied Ultrasonics’ engineering staff, and they engaged Applied Ultrasonics for the weldment design and to provide a full weld procedure which included application and quality control oversight of Esonix UIT. Applied Ultrasonics mobilized a team of weld engineers and technicians to the job site to provide weld QA/QC oversight as well as apply the Esonix UIT process per the approved specification.
The weld engineers developed an enhanced weld joint design as well as a welding procedure that efficiently incorporated Esonix UIT into the repair process.
The result of this successful partnership is a derrick structure that is more reliable due to vastly improved fatigue strength and fatigue life. This vessel is still in service today, and thanks to Applied Ultrasonics’ Engineering Services, it will continue to perform for many years to come.