Structural health monitoring of wind towers: residual fatigue life estimation

In a recent paper (Benedetti et al 2011 Smart Mater. Struct. 20 055009), the authors investigated the possibility of detecting cracks in critical sites of onshore wind towers using a radial arrangement of strain sensors around the tower periphery in the vicinity of the base welded joint. Specifically, the strain difference between adjacent strain sensors is used as a damage indicator. The number of sensors to be installed is determined by the minimum crack size to be detected, which in turn depends on the expected extreme wind conditions and programmed inspection/repair schedule. In this companion paper, we address these issues by investigating possible strategies for residual fatigue life assessment and management of onshore wind towers once the crack has been detected. For this purpose, fracture mechanics tests are carried out using welded samples to quantify the resistance to fatigue crack growth as well as the elastic-plastic fracture toughness of the welded joint at the tower base. These material strength characteristics are used to estimate (i) the critical crack size for structural integrity on the basis of fracture toughness tests, elastoplastic finite element analyses and loading spectra under extreme wind conditions, (ii) the residual life before structural collapse, applying a frequency-domain method to typical in-service wind actions and wind directionality.