Development of new methodologies to assess the structural integrity of the grouted joint of a 10MW wind turbine substructure

• Published in: Volume 1: Offshore Technology
• Main Authors: Santos, Benjamin, Rodriguez, Alvaro, Fernandez, David, Gintautas, Tomas, Sørensen, John Dalsgaard, Natarajan, Anand, NJOMO WANDJI, Wilfried
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2018
• Subjects: Wind turbines; Fatigue; Reliability; Steel; Corrosion; Fatigue strength; Water; Wind; Concretes; Ocean engineering; Arctic
• Online Access: https://vbn.aau.dk/da/publications/30e64ff4-ab92-44bf-bb26-096e711d8aaa; https://doi.org/10.1115/OMAE2018-77628

Monopiles are currently the most commonly used substructure in the offshore wind market due to their ease of installation in shallow to medium waters. The monopile and the transition piece are connected by a grouted joint. Fatigue and corrosion are two of the most important degradation mechanisms in this type of support structures. These mechanisms increase the costs and compromise the reliability of the structures. The development of new models and methodologies for the analysis of these degradation mechanisms is crucial. For this reason, a methodology to analyze the behavior of grouted joints has been developed considering the effect of corrosion on the steel parts of the grouted joints, along with the consideration of stiffness degradation of the concrete structure and the reliability of the joint under fatigue. One type of grouted joint connection is considered: the conventional cylindrical joint with shear keys. Fully coupled load simulations are made to determine the fatigue resistance and ultimate load resistance of the joint.