TY - JOUR

T1 - Improvements in the fatigue design of support structures for offshore wind turbines

AU - Schaumann, Peter

AU - Böhm, Manuela

AU - Schürmann, Karsten

N1 - The results presented were developed in different joint research projects, two of them managed by FOSTA (‘FAT-InWeld’, 19104 N, and ‘Big Bolts’, 486 ZN) via AiF with-in the programme for promoting the Industrial Collective Research (IGF) of the German Ministry of Economic Af-fairs and Energy (BMWi) and one managed by PtJ (‘GROWup’, FKZ 0325290) and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The authors express their deep gratitude for the financial support received from the BMWi, AiF, FOSTA and the companies involved in the projects.Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL

PY - 2021/5/11

Y1 - 2021/5/11

N2 - Extended keynote paper of Eurosteel 2021. This article provides an overview of the various support structures for offshore wind turbines and addresses the challenges that arise for the different design variants. First of all, the existing types of support structures are explained and their benefits and shortcomings discussed. Following that, the focus is on material fatigue and its analysis, which is of great importance due to the cyclic loading on the structures. A central topic of this article is the experimental evaluation of fatigue strength using large-scale test setups and state-of-the-art measurement methods. Critical and complex design details such as welds for extremely thick plates, tubular joints, grouted connections, large HV bolts and ring flanges are investigated to improve methods of analysis. Further, the new series of German standards (DIN 18088) for support structures for wind energy turbines and platforms is addressed. Finally, these topics are summarized and the importance of offshore wind energy for the transition to cleaner energy is emphasized.

AB - Extended keynote paper of Eurosteel 2021. This article provides an overview of the various support structures for offshore wind turbines and addresses the challenges that arise for the different design variants. First of all, the existing types of support structures are explained and their benefits and shortcomings discussed. Following that, the focus is on material fatigue and its analysis, which is of great importance due to the cyclic loading on the structures. A central topic of this article is the experimental evaluation of fatigue strength using large-scale test setups and state-of-the-art measurement methods. Critical and complex design details such as welds for extremely thick plates, tubular joints, grouted connections, large HV bolts and ring flanges are investigated to improve methods of analysis. Further, the new series of German standards (DIN 18088) for support structures for wind energy turbines and platforms is addressed. Finally, these topics are summarized and the importance of offshore wind energy for the transition to cleaner energy is emphasized.

KW - connections

KW - Experiments

KW - fatigue strength

KW - Masts and towers

KW - offshore wind energy

KW - Special structures

KW - standardization

KW - support structures

KW - welded steel joints

KW - Welding and cutting

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105092630&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/stco.202000060

DO - 10.1002/stco.202000060

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85105092630

VL - 14

SP - 74

EP - 82

JO - Steel Construction

JF - Steel Construction

SN - 1867-0520

IS - 2

ER -