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Fatigue Assessment of Wind Turbine Towers: Review of Processing Strategies with Illustrative Case Study

Author

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  • João Pacheco

    (Construct-ViBest, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

  • Francisco Pimenta

    (Construct-ViBest, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

  • Sérgio Pereira

    (Construct-ViBest, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

  • Álvaro Cunha

    (Construct-ViBest, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

  • Filipe Magalhães

    (Construct-ViBest, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

Wind turbines are structures predominantly subjected to dynamic loads throughout their period of life. In that sense, fatigue design plays a central role. Particularly, support structure design might be conservative with respect to fatigue, which may lead to a real fatigue life of considerably more than 20 years. For these reasons, the implementation of a fatigue monitoring system can be an important advantage for the management of wind farms, providing the following outputs: (i) estimation of the evolution of real fatigue condition; (ii) since the real condition of fatigue damage is known, these results could be an essential element for a decision about extending the lifespan of the structure and the possibility of repowering or overpowering; and (iii) the results of the instrumented wind turbines can be extrapolated to other wind turbines of the same wind farm. This paper reviews the procedures for calculating the fatigue damage of wind turbine towers using strain measurements. The applicability of the described procedures is demonstrated with experimental data acquired in an extensive experimental campaign developed at Tocha Wind Farm, an onshore wind farm located in Portugal, exploring the impact of several user-defined parameters on the fatigue results. The paper also includes the description of the data processing needed to convert raw measurements into bending moments and several validation and calibration steps.

Suggested Citation

  • João Pacheco & Francisco Pimenta & Sérgio Pereira & Álvaro Cunha & Filipe Magalhães, 2022. "Fatigue Assessment of Wind Turbine Towers: Review of Processing Strategies with Illustrative Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-25, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:13:p:4782-:d:851558
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Currie, Magnus & Saafi, Mohamed & Tachtatzis, Christos & Quail, Francis, 2015. "Structural integrity monitoring of onshore wind turbine concrete foundations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 1131-1138.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mattia Silei & Stefania Bellavia & Francesco Superchi & Alessandro Bianchini, 2023. "Recovering Corrupted Data in Wind Farm Measurements: A Matrix Completion Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-32, February.
    2. Alexander I. Balitskii & Vitaly V. Dmytryk & Lyubomir M. Ivaskevich & Olexiy A. Balitskii & Alyona V. Glushko & Lev B. Medovar & Karol F. Abramek & Ganna P. Stovpchenko & Jacek J. Eliasz & Marcin A. K, 2022. "Improvement of the Mechanical Characteristics, Hydrogen Crack Resistance and Durability of Turbine Rotor Steels Welded Joints," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-23, August.
    3. Małgorzata Jastrzębska, 2022. "Installation’s Conception in the Field of Renewable Energy Sources for the Needs of the Silesian Botanical Garden," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-28, September.

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