Reliability Updating of Offshore Wind Substructures by Use of Digital Twin information

This paper presents a probabilistic framework for updating the structural reliability of offshore wind turbine substructures based on digital twin information. In particular, the information obtained from digital twins is used to quantify and update the uncertainties associated with the structural dynamics and load modeling parameters in fatigue damage accumulation. The updated uncertainties are included in a probabilistic model for fatigue damage accumulation used to update the structural reliability. The updated reliability can be used as input to optimize decision models for operation and maintenance of existing structures and design of new structures. The framework is exemplified based on two numerical case studies with a representative offshore wind turbine and information acquired from previously established digital twins. In this context, the effect of updating soil stiffness and wave loading, which constitute two highly uncertain and sensitive parameters, is investigated. It is found that updating the soil stiffness significantly affects the reliability of the joints close to the mudline, while updating the wave loading significantly affects the reliability of the joints localized in the splash zone. The increased uncertainty related to virtual sensing, which is employed to update wave loading, reduces structural reliability

Statistical methods for damage detection applied to civil structures

International audienceDamage detection consists of monitoring the deviations of a current system from its reference state, characterized by some nominal property repeatable for every healthy state. Preferably, the damage detection is performed directly on vibration data, hereby avoiding modal identification of the structure. The practical aspect of using only the output measurements cause difficulties because of variations in ambient excitation due to variability in the environmental conditions, like sea, wind, and temperature. In this paper, a new Mahalanobis distance-based damage detection method is studied and compared to the well-known subspace-based damage detection algorithm in the context of two large case studies. Both methods are implemented in the modal analysis and structural health monitoring software ARTeMIS, in which the joint features of the methods are concluded in a control chart in an attempt to enhance the resolution of the damage detection. The damage indicators from both methods are evaluated based on the ambient vibration signals from numerical simulations on a novel offshore support structure and experimental example of a full scale bridge. The results reveal that the performance of the two damage detection methods is similar, hereby implying merit of the new Mahalanobis distance-based approach, as it is less computational complex. The fusion of the damage indicators in the control chart provides the most accurate view on the progressively damaged systems