Reliability-based fatigue design of wind-turbine rotor blades

A probabilistic model for analysis of the safety of a wind-turbine rotor blade against fatigue failure in flapwise bending is presented. The model is based on a Miner's rule approach to cumulative damage and capitalizes on a conventional S– N curve formulation for fatigue resistance in conjunct...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Engineering structures 1999-12, Vol.21 (12), p.1101-1114
Main Authors: Ronold, Knut O., Wedel-Heinen, Jakob, Christensen, Carl J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Code calibration
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Fatigue
Natural energy
Partial safety factors
Rotor blades
Structural reliability
Wind energy
Wind turbines
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Summary:A probabilistic model for analysis of the safety of a wind-turbine rotor blade against fatigue failure in flapwise bending is presented. The model is based on a Miner's rule approach to cumulative damage and capitalizes on a conventional S– N curve formulation for fatigue resistance in conjunction with a new `distorted Weibull' distribution for representation of wind-induced bending moment ranges. The model accounts for inherent variability and statistical uncertainty in load and resistance, and model uncertainties are also included. The model is applied to an analysis of the reliability of a site-specific wind turbine of a prescribed make. A 20-year design lifetime is considered. The probability of fatigue failure in flapwise bending of the rotor blade is calculated by means of a first-order reliability method. It is demonstrated how the reliability analysis results can be used to calibrate partial safety factors for load and resistance for use in conventional deterministic fatigue design.
ISSN:0141-0296
1873-7323
DOI:10.1016/S0141-0296(98)00048-0