Superposition of manoeuvres and load spectra extrapolation

To face the increasing demand for long lasting, versatile and performing machines, a detailed analysis of the load conditions is required especially when structural integrity assessment has to be achieved. Usually acquisitions of load histories are shorter than the machine working life and an extrapolation of the signal for the total service life is needed. Traditional methods for load spectra extrapolation are based on conservative choices in terms of worst case scenario. Methods based on extreme value statistics have been developed. The problem addressed in this paper concerns the extrapolation of load histories on a welded boom in which different manoeuvres are superimposed. Different ways of extrapolating the load measurement have been derived, both in time domain and in Markov domain, in order to account for the superposition of bigger and more damaging cycles and smaller cycles caused by two different service operations.