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Damage detection of flange bolts in wind turbine towers using dynamic strain responses

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Abstract

With the development of wind power industry, the adoption of the wind turbine has achieved continuous growth over the years. As the key component to connect the adjacent segments of the towers, the flange bolts play a vital role in the safe operation of the wind turbine towers. The detection of loose bolts has drawn extensive attention. The primary objectives of this research are to present a method for damage detection of flange bolts in the wind turbine towers. In this paper, the formulation of the damage index based on the dynamic strain responses is first presented based on the mechanical characteristics of the wind turbine towers. Then, a parametric analysis is conducted based on the numerical simulation to investigate the influence of the loose bolt location on the damage index. Some important results are extracted in the parametric analysis, which is further validated by the experimental investigation into a large-scale steel tube specimen whose flange has 12 bolts. Finally, a methodology for damage detection of the flange bolts is proposed, which can identify the regional location of loose bolts.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation (171066). In addition, this work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 52178454) and Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (Grant no. cstc2019jcyj-msxmX0254).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400000, China

    Shou-Zhen Li, Yu-Hang Wang, **ao-Hua Li & Dan Gan

  2. Key Laboratory of New Technology for Construction of Cities in Mountain Area, Chongqing, 400045, China

    Shou-Zhen Li, Yu-Hang Wang, **ao-Hua Li & Dan Gan

  3. Yangjiang Offshore Wind Energy Laboratory, Guangdong, 529533, China

    Xu-Hong Zhou & Rong-Hua Zhu

  4. China State Shipbuilding Corporation, Haizhuang Windpower Co., Ltd, Chongqing, China

    Huan Li

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  1. Shou-Zhen Li
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Correspondence to **ao-Hua Li.

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Li, SZ., Li, H., Zhou, XH. et al. Damage detection of flange bolts in wind turbine towers using dynamic strain responses. J Civil Struct Health Monit 13, 67–81 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-022-00622-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-022-00622-z

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