Including SN-curve uncertainty in fatigue reliability analyses of wind turbines

The reliability of wind turbines with respect to fatigue loads is affected by uncertainties in dynamic load effects and the material’s resistance to the fatigue loads. The design standard published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) specifies partial safety factors to account for these uncertainties and is intended to produce systems that are reliable with respect to fatigue loading. This paper presents a method to directly propagate the uncertainty in both the dynamic response and the fatigue resistance of a component through to the subsequent accumulated damage. Damage indices are calculated using both the proposed method and the IEC safety factors, providing a comparison of the two uncertainty quantification methods.

Duke Scholars

Author Henri P. Gavin Civil and Environmental Engineering