Hybrid joining of jacket structures for offshore wind turbines - Determination of requirements and adhesive characterisation

Due to the advantageous wind conditions, many new structures are planned offshore. The construction of offshore structures with ever increasing sizes requires new concepts to cope with the particular requirements thereof. One often overlooked possibility is adhesive bonding as a structural joining method, which upholds significant optimisation potential. This paper, the first in a series of two, illustrates the potential of adhesive bonding on the widely used jacket structure. For that, the structural concept is adapted towards ease of manufacturing, hybrid joints are defined, adhesives are selected according to requirements resulting from structural and climatic constraints, structural verifications performed, and the validation therefor presented in preliminary small-scale tests-which will be upscaled in the second part of this series. This paper thus serves as a roadmap for practitioners, and outlines the various steps to evaluate the potential of adhesive bonding in complex structures.