Analytical and experimental fatigue analysis of wind turbine tower connection bolts

This paper presents a method of estimation of fatigue demands on connection bolts of tubular steel wind turbine towers. The presented method relies on numerical simulation of aerodynamic loads and structural behavior of bolted connections modeled using finite element method. Variability of wind parameters is represented by a set of values derived from their probability densities, which are adjusted based on field measurements. Numerically generated stress time-series show agreement with the measurements from strain gauges inside bolts, in terms of power spectra and the resulting damage. Position of each bolt has a determining effect on its fatigue damage. The proposed framework for fatigue life estimation represents the complexities in loading and local behavior of the structure. On the other hand, the developed procedure is computationally efficient since it requires a limited number of simulations for statistically representing the wind variations.