Permanent accumulated rotation of offshore wind turbine monopile due to typhoon-induced cyclic loading

In order to study the effect of typhoons on the accumulated deformation of monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines, a series of 1-g laboratory model tests with a geometrical scale of 1:100 were carried out. Through the horizontal static and cyclic loading tests of a stiff pile embedded in a medium dense sand deposit, the relationship between the accumulated rotation of the pile and the number of loading cycles under different loading conditions was obtained. The results show that the final accumulated rotation is mainly caused by the typhoon load series and is not affected by the loading sequence. Based on these results, a method is presented to predict the accumulated rotation of the monopile foundation during its service life, and a case study of a 6 MW wind turbine supported by a monopile at a water depth of 30 m in sand is conducted by using the method. The results show that the permanent accumulated rotation of the monopile throughout the design life is mainly contributed by cyclic loading induced by typhoons and the contribution of cyclic loading with small amplitudes can be ignored.     

Joint earthquake and wave action on the monopile wind turbine foundation: An experimental study

Offshore wind turbines in regions of active seismicity are under a potential threat caused by the joint earthquake and ocean wave action. Taking NREL-5MW monopile wind turbine as the prototype, this study is devoted to probe the joint action of strong earthquakes and moderate sea conditions. A series of shake table model tests of scale 30:1 have been carried out by the contemporary world unique facility (Earthquake, Wave and Current Joint Simulation System) to investigate the structural response in dry flume, low and high calm water levels, with and without regular or random waves. Particular interest has been in the nacelle acceleration subjected to strong ground motions as well as to random waves. The experimental results of nacelle peak accelerations and corresponding dynamic amplification factors show that the joint earthquake and wave action is important for the proper evaluation of structural response. Ignoring the effect of wave action in seismic analysis will lead to underestimation of structural response, especially when the monopile foundation is dynamically sensitive. The coupling of earthquake and wave actions is sourced not only from the relative velocity of vibration but also from the initial condition induced by waves. It has been also derived that the peak acceleration excited by a moderate sea condition is comparable to that by a moderate earthquake.     

Study on a new method for installing a monopile and a fully integrated offshore wind turbine structure

This paper presents a preliminary technical feasibility study on a new methodology proposed for installing a monopile-based bottom supported offshore wind turbine structure. The concept is developed to address the problem of “waiting for a suitable weather window” which is commonly faced by the existing installation methods that uses a typical jack-up platform. In the methodology, a floating vessel along with a floatable subsea structure fitted with a hull on the top, hereafter named SSIP (subsea structure for installing a pile), is proposed first to install a monopile. Then the same structure is used to carry an FIUS (fully integrated upper structure) of an offshore wind turbine, which is characterized by a telescopic tower, and install it over the monopile by using an FOP (float-over-pulling) arrangement. Here, the installation methodologies are first briefly described along with the critical load cases associated with them. These load cases are then numerically studied for a significant wave height (H_S) of 2.5 m, and the results are summarized. For installing a fully integrated offshore wind turbine upper structure on a monopile foundation by the FOP method, two installation schemes are presented, and their dynamic characteristics are compared. It is shown that the proposed methodologies have potential to provide installation solutions which can be environmentally more robust compared to the existing method for installing an offshore wind turbine.     

运动海床对近海风机单桩基础的影响

以东海大桥海上风电场为研究背景,首先基于Biot固结理论求解了不同波况下多层非均质土体的位移、超孔压的分布,讨论了波浪荷载对海床运动的影响。而后基于土体位移计算结果,应用支座位移加载法与p-y曲线法相结合的方法,求解了运动海床作用下近海风机单桩基础的内力和变形,并将其结果与不考虑运动海床作用的结果进行了对比。对比结果显示:运动海床对桩身的变形影响显著,设计中有必要进行运动海床作用下的变形校核。     

Ultimate load analysis of a 10 MW offshore monopile wind turbine incorporating fully nonlinear irregular wave kinematics

Loads from storm waves can in some cases be dimensioning for offshore wind turbine substructures. Accurate determination of nonlinear wave loads is therefore important for a safe, yet economic design. In this paper, the fully nonlinear waves, realized by a fully nonlinear potential wave solver OceanWave3D, are incorporated into coupled aero-servo-hydro-elastic simulations for a reduced set of wave-sensitive design load cases, in comparison with the widely used linear and constrained waves. The coupled aero-elastic simulations are performed for the DTU 10 MW reference wind turbine on a large monopile at 33 m water depth using the aero-elastic code HAWC2. Effect of the wave nonlinearity is investigated in terms of the ultimate sectional moments at tower bottom and monopile mudline. Higher ultimate moments, 5% at tower bottom and 13% at monopile mudline as maximum, are predicated when the nonlinear waves are used. It could be explained by the fact that the extreme nonlinear waves, that are close to the breaking limit, can induce resonant ringing-type responses, and hereby dominate the ultimate load responses. However, the constrained wave approach shows marginal difference compared to the standard linear wave approach. It can be concluded at least for the present configuration that the industry standard approaches (linear and constrained wave approach) underestimate the ultimate load responses on offshore wind turbines in severe sea states.     

A ductile tearing assessment diagram for cracked circular-hollow-section joints under reversed loadings

This paper proposes a ductile tearing assessment diagram (TAD) to predict the load resistance to the crack extension relationship during the stable tearing process of the circular-hollow-section (CHS) joints under the reversed in-plane bending actions. The tearing assessment diagram utilizes the envelope of the load-deformation curve from the fracture test under reversed loadings to build the connection among the fracture resistance, load resistance and crack extension. To verify the proposed approach, this study performs fracture experiments, imposing the reversed in-plane bending on the CHS X-joints, made of Q345 steel, with a surface crack near the weld toe. The experimental investigation reveals the effect of the reversed loading on the fracture resistance and validates the TAD-based assessment for tubular joints. Meanwhile, this study performs the cyclic fracture test on the single-edge-notched-tension [SE(T)] specimen made of Q345 steel and derives the TAD from the experimental record of the SE(T) specimen. The specimen-based assessment successfully predicts the load versus crack extension relation for the reported joints under reversed loadings. The study provides a basic framework to predict the joint response under reversed loadings by integrating the material fracture characteristics.     

The effect of weld residual stress on fracture toughness at the intersection of two welding lines of offshore tubular structure

Due to the spatial complexity and fabrication characteristics of offshore platforms, it is inevitable to encounter overlaps or proximity of weld lines in tubular joints. Several international standards such as American Petroleum Institute (API), American Welding Society (AWS), and American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) regulate the minimum distance between primary weld beads; however, any logical and detailed background of this limitation has not been presented. For a non-compliant weld joint where the regulation is not met, fracture toughness calculation is a typical index to verify the structural integrity.This research consists of two parts. First, weld residual stress distributions are calculated by a 3D thermo-mechanical nonlinear Finite Element Analysis. Two crossing welds, a T-weld crossing on a butt weld, are simulated in one model. A separate tee and a butt welding simulations are also performed for a comparative purpose. Second, SIFs and J-integral values are calculated at the surface and deepest crack tip locations for four different types of semi-elliptical surface cracks. Four cracks are embedded into the weld model and the residual stress distribution from the 3D thermo-mechanical FEA are mapped to a 3D FE crack model as initial conditions. An additional axial tensile load is also imposed. SIF values are compared with those using the weighting function method for the butt weld model subject to three load cases, i.e., tensile stress only, weld residual stress only, and both of them. From the simulation, a tubular joint containing a chord girth weld intersected with weld beads of brace is found to show lower the SIF values than that having only a girth weld on chord.     

海上风力发电机组支撑结构动力响应特性研究

支撑结构设计是大型海上风电机组设计的重要部分。文章分析了海上风电机组的各种环境载荷,并以3MW风力机组为例计算其所受环境载荷,包括作用在支撑结构顶端的由风机叶轮转动引起的水平轴向力、作用在塔筒上的风载荷以及作用在基础上的海流、海浪载荷,并采用非线性弹簧来模拟基础与海底土层之间的相互作用。在考虑风轮影响情况下,利用有限元法对支撑结构进行了模态分析。最后,分析了环境载荷作用下支撑结构的动态响应。计算结果表明,在对海上风力发电机组进行动态响应计算时,环境载荷之间的相互耦合作用不能忽略。     

近海单桩风机在波浪地震联合作用下的动力特性分析

针对典型单桩海上风机结构,利用ANSYS建立有限元模型,并根据实际情况选取3种地震加速度激励和两个水深的波浪荷载,对结构进行地震单独作用动力分析以及地震与波浪联合作用下动力分析.对比分析结果表明:地震发生时,在水位较低、波浪较小的情况下,结构主要以地震作用引起的响应为主,波浪引起的响应相对较小;若地震发生的同时伴有极端恶劣海况,则结构响应较大;波浪对结构下部响应有较大的影响;由于地震加速度峰值与波浪力峰值之间存在相位差,所以两者联合作用时,结构的响应也会有减小的情况发生.由此可见,地震发生时波浪的存在将对结构动力响应造成不同程度的影响,在进行海上风机设计时,有必要考虑地震与波浪联合作用的情况.     

基于裂纹扩展理论的船体结构疲劳评估

疲劳破坏是船舶结构的主要破坏形式之一。为了保证船舶结构有足够的疲劳强度,各国船级社、船厂等均建立了船舶结构疲劳强度校核规范作为船舶疲劳评估的指导性文件,尽管这些规范均是建立在S-N曲线方法基础上的,但由于S-N曲线方法存在自身无法克服的缺陷(如忽略材料的初始缺陷等),对同一节点进行计算得到的疲劳寿命大相径庭。该文作者在基于裂纹扩展理论的基础之上,给出了一套详细的船体结构疲劳评估方法,并应用此方法对大型船舶结构典型节点的疲劳寿命进行评估,以期能为完善船舶结构疲劳寿命的评估提供参考。     

含裂纹有限加筋板应力强度因子的求解

基于裂纹问题的复应力函数方法,对含裂纹有限加筋板中裂纹表面作用分布力时的应力强度因子进行了分析求解.对有限加筋板离散化,不考虑弯曲的影响,将筋条对裂纹板的作用力转化为作用在板边界的切向力,通过对受边界切向力作用的含裂纹有限板问题的求解,从而求解了含裂纹有限加筋板的问题.     

Development of super element to perform direct analysis on failure assessment of hull structures based on FAD

Failure assessment diagram (FAD) has great potentials to be a powerful tool to assess the integrity of hull structures. However, the current methodology to obtain the fracture ratio and the load ratio, two axes of FAD, for hull structures is tedious and burden which is one of the major obstacles to advance the further application of FAD. In this paper, a super element is introduced to obtain those two ratios simultaneously in the framework of linear elastic analysis within a single step. Besides, the virtual section closure technique is proposed to compute the reference stress under the inspiration of virtual crack closure technique to compute the stress intensity factor. The capacity of the proposed super element has been assessed by two classic examples of a plate with central crack and a cylinder with circumferential crack. The results obtained from the super element are compared to the corresponding analytical solutions. Finally, the cracked Nishihara specimen (NST-3) was examined and the facture ratio and the load ratio obtained by the super element were compared to those obtained by the global analyses. The comparisons indicate that the proposed super element is accurate. No convergence troubles were encountered. Therefore, the methodology developed in this paper could be a very useful addition to perform the direct analysis on the failure of hull structures due to large crack extensions based on the failure assessment diagram.     

有效应力强度因子范围门槛值与载荷比关系的研究

不同载荷比下的有效应力强度因子范围门槛值△Keff.th往往被看作一个常数,然而疲劳实验数据结果通常散落在一个较窄的带宽范围内,而不是所期望的一条曲线。另外,基于改进的McEvily模型对△Keff.th进行的灵敏度分析表明△Keff.th对疲劳裂纹扩展率具有重要的影响,尤其是在占有大部分疲劳裂纹扩展寿命的近门槛值区域。因此,文章认为不同应力比下的△Keff.th为变量,并且通过三个方面对△Keff.th与应力比R的关系进行了深入的研究:(a)Schmidt和Paris提出的一个关于△Keff.th的简化模型和相应的试验数据;(b)基于传统的裂纹完全闭合概念的△Keff.th试验数据;(c)基于裂纹局部闭合模型的△Keff.th,p试验数据。分析结果表明,在应力比低于临界应力比时,随着应力比的增加,有效应力强度因子范围门槛值也相应增加;而应力比高于临界应力比时,有效应力强度因子范围门槛值随应力比的增加而减小。另外,通过对试验数据的曲线拟合分析表明,Lorentz分布能很好地描述相应的试验数据。     

双向应力场中表面裂纹应力强度因子的权函数法

半椭圆表面裂纹是船舶等焊接结构中常见的损伤形式,计算裂纹尖端应力强度因子是结构损伤容限设计的前提,权函数法是求解复杂应力场中应力强度因子的有效手段之一。本文基于一种集中力载荷权函数统一形式,通过三维有限元建模计算了裂纹半长比a/c=0.05~1.0、裂纹深度比a/T=0.01~0.8的表面裂纹应力强度因子,并将其作为参考解,得到一组形状适用范围更广的有限厚度平板表面裂纹最深点和表面点的二维权函数。权函数的准确性通过在裂纹面上施加最高六阶的双向变化应力载荷进行验证,权函数法结果与有限元法相比求解误差在10%以内。文中所提出的权函数为复杂焊接结构表面裂纹扩展分析奠定了基础。     

偏心裂纹缺陷板的应力强度因子和极限拉伸强度分析

疲劳裂纹对船舶结构强度具有不可忽视的削弱作用,在过去的研究中,主要从断裂力学的角度对疲劳裂纹应力场进行分析,而对于静态裂纹板的极限强度的探讨相对较少.本文在有限元计算的基础上对具有偏心裂纹缺陷的矩形板的应力强度因子和极限拉伸强度进行了分析.对于偏心裂纹应力强度因子,在计算方法上有效地简化了文献[5]中提出的大单元有限元计算模型,并且用于分析裂纹偏心度对于应力强度因子的影响.对于偏心裂纹延性板,采用弹塑性有限元进行了大量的组合计算,分析了相对裂纹长度、材料屈强比和裂纹偏心度对板的拉伸极限强度的影响,并给出了方便计算的回归公式.该回归公式包含了多个参数对板的极限拉伸强度的影响,与实验结果吻合较好.     

海洋平台中KK管节点表面裂纹应力强度因子的有限元计算方法

海洋平台中的KK管节点由于长期承受循环载荷而容易在焊缝处产生疲劳表面裂纹.对包含表面裂纹的KK节点的残余寿命的评估依赖于对表面裂纹应力强度因子的准确估算.本文首先提出了KK节点中表面裂纹的有限元网格产生方法,然后采用线弹性断裂力学理论,通过裂纹前缘的位移外推插值法分析了KK节点在轴向力作用下沿着表面裂纹的应力强度因子的分布情况.最后,通过对22个KK节点的模型分析,研究了节点的几何参数和裂纹形状参数对应力强度因子的影响情况.     

船舶折角型节点的疲劳裂纹扩展计算

文章以船舶折角型节点为研究对象,运用有限元软件WALCS和PATRAN分别预报某船的水动力响应和结构热点应力响应.为避免计算表面裂纹应力强度因子时需要在PATRAN有限元模型中疲劳热点区域采用体单元建模,文中提出了一种计算波浪载荷下船海结构物三维表面裂纹应力强度因子而无需在PATRAN中建立体模型的方法,并通过与广泛认可的经验公式对比验证其精度.将此方法应用于该船船舯底边舱折角处表面裂纹应力强度因子计算,计算并总结出波浪载荷下该类节点处表面裂纹应力强度因子的无量纲计算经验公式.应用一种基于谱分析构建结构疲劳载荷谱的方法,结合单一曲线模型对该节点进行裂纹扩展计算.计算结果表明:该船船舯底边舱折角疲劳寿命不满足设计要求,建议对节点进行改进.     

基于裂纹尖端应力比值的FGM板应力强度因子简便预测方法

为了弥补含裂纹功能梯度材料(FGM)结构强度预测方法的不足,文章基于有限元分析方法,将复杂的FGM板应力强度因子求解问题转化为简单的FGM板和均匀材料板之间裂纹尖端应力比值计算问题,仅通过使用均匀材料板和FGM板裂纹尖端应力比值、均匀材料板应力强度因子经验公式即可得到任意FGM板应力强度因子值,从而提出了一种基于裂纹尖端应力比值的FGM板应力强度因子简便预测方法。该方法避免了复杂的矩阵运算以及数值积分,仅需建立二维有限元模型即可在保证精确度的基础上快速得到FGM板应力强度因子预测值。通过多组算例对比分析,证明该方法预测精度高,比传统计算方法更为简便,便于工程应用。