Entwurf und Nachweisführung von Grout-Verbindungen unter Berücksichtigung der Beanspruchungssituation in Tragstrukturen von Offshore-Windenergieanlagen

Design of grouted joints of structures for offshore wind turbines taking the loading situation into consideration.

The following article presents a practical design concept for grouted joints of structures for offshore wind turbines. Cylindrical connections with shear keys are considered. In this concept the combined action of bending moments and normal forces is directly taken into account thus the usage of empirical design formulas can be omitted. The realistic representation of physical effects in the contact joint is carried out in two complementary finite element models. After a detailed examination of the structural mechanisms that occur in a connection without shear keys, the existing physical effects in the presence of shear keys are examined in a sub model. The knowledge about the force distribution between the struts and the friction stresses is subsequently integrated in the global numerical model using simplified spring models. In this way the design calculations for a grouted joint with shear keys can be carried out with reasonable numerical effort taking into account the real structural behaviour.