Influence of structural redundancy on fatigue life of offshore wind turbine jacket structures

The concept of structural redundancy is implemented in the fatigue analysis of an offshore wind turbine jacket structure. The analyzed jacket is a real life example. Time domain analyses are performed for the most representative design load case. The uni-directional and multi-directional simulations of the offshore wind turbine system are carried out using a coupling of the aero-elastic code and the finite element code. Fatigue analyses are performed using hot spot stress approach and Miner's rule. Comparative studies show that considering structural redundancy leads to expanded fatigue life of the offshore wind turbine jacket structures.