Modeling and characterization strategy as a basis for improved prediction of concrete fatigue degradation in wind power plants

CRC Press eBooks, pp. 3649–3655

Abstract

The fatigue behavior of concrete has been usually investigated experimentally for loading scenarios with constant amplitudes. However, in reality, concrete components and structures such as wind turbine towers are subjected to loading scenarios with variable amplitudes. Current design rules insufficiently capture the effect of amplitude changes and loading sequence within load scenarios on the fatigue behavior of concrete and can lead to both uncertain and uneconomic design. A purely experimental investigation of the sequence effects in cyclic loading of concrete is not feasible due to the large number of possible combinations of experimental parameters. In this paper, the concept of a combined numerical-experimental methodology is presented with the aim to develop an engineering model that will deliver more realistic predictions of the fatigue life of concrete towers, thus increasing the reliability and economic viability of wind turbines. A microplane fatigue model recently developed by the authors is used to study and analyze the fatigue behavior of concrete covering a wide range of applications, accounting for any kind of loading scenario. The paper presents recent advances in modeling and characterization of fatigue behavior of concrete, considering the effect of loading sequence and provides an outlook of the prospective methodology for deriving design rules for fatigue life prediction in wind power plants.

Authors 5

1. Abedulgader Baktheer Aachen Institute of Structural Concrete

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Structural Concrete , RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany

   Institute of Structural Concrete, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2. H. Becks Aachen Institute of Structural Concrete

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Structural Concrete , RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany

   Institute of Structural Concrete, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

3. M. Classen Aachen Institute of Structural Concrete

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Structural Concrete , RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany

   Institute of Structural Concrete, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

4. Josef Hegger Aachen Institute of Structural Concrete

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Structural Concrete , RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany

   Institute of Structural Concrete, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

5. Rostislav Chudoba Aachen Institute of Structural Concrete

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Structural Concrete , RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany

   Institute of Structural Concrete, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany