Fatigue assessment of offshore wind turbine support structures subjected to seawater

Start Page
521
End Page
528
Citation
9th International Conference on Marine Structures (MARSTRUCT 2023)
Contribution to Conference
9th International Conference on Marine Structures, MARSTRUCT 2023 
Publisher DOI
10.1201/9781003399759-58
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85185839603
ISBN
9781032506364
In order to ensure structural integrity of offshore wind turbines, the fatigue assessment is an important aspect, since cyclic loads are the main driving factor for its lifetime. Steel structures exposed to maritime environments are highly susceptible to corrosion. Thus, the determination of risk factors due to the contact with seawater is of particular interest for the lifetime prediction. The present study shows an approach to determine the fatigue strength of steel specimens under the influence of seawater. An experimental setup for a corrosion process is introduced, using artificial seawater. Based on this setup, a fatigue testing of round specimens is performed, which were submerged in a corrosion tank. Subsequently, low cycle fatigue tests were conducted to determine the influence of corrosion. These results are compared with uncorroded specimens. Influence factors were identified and discussed, as well as an outlook is given over the subsequent steps based on the results.