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This paper addresses the quantification of the value of structural health monitoring (SHM) before its implementation for structural systems on the basis of its Value of Information (VoI). The value of SHM is calculated utilizing the Bayesian pre-posterior decision analysis modelling the structural life cycle performance, the integrity management and the structural risks. The relevance and precisio

There is a large financial incentive to minimise operations and maintenance (O&M) costs for offshore wind power by optimising the maintenance plan. The integration of condition monitoring (CM) and structural health monitoring (SHM) may help realise this. There is limited work on the integration of both CM and SHM for offshore wind power or the use of imperfectly operating monitoring equipment.

The use of condition monitoring systems on offshore wind turbines has increased dramatically in recent times. However, their use is mostly restricted to vibration based monitoring systems for the gearbox, generator and drive train. A survey of commercially available condition monitoring systems and their associated costs has been completed for the blades, drive train, tower and foundation. This pa

A software prototype is developed for assessing and updating the reliability of single-cell prestressed concrete box girders subjected to chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion. The underlying system model consists of two integrated sub-models: a condition model for predicting the deterioration state of the box girder and a structural model for evaluating the overall system reliability. The cond

Inspection and maintenance of concrete bridges is a major cost factor in transportation infrastructure, and there is significant potential for using information gained during inspection to update predictive models of the performance and reliability of such structures. In this context, this paper presents an approach for assessing and updating the reliability of prestressed concrete bridges subject

The Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) techniques provide in most cases reasonably accurate estimates of structural frequencies and mode shapes. They are however known to produce erroneous structural damping estimates, which are presumably thought to be due to inherent random- or bias errors that have varying significance for different techniques. This paper evaluates the sensitivity of damping esti

This paper is focused on a resonance phenomenon of a wind turbine system in 5. MW class, on the basis of dynamic signals acquired continuously from the tubular tower under normal operational conditions during two years. Firstly, technique specifications of the wind turbine system are introduced and a finite element model is developed to characterize the structural dynamic properties. The following

The second part of these companion papers mainly researches environmental/operational influences on structural dynamic properties under normal operational conditions during two years, in order to extract a statistical based damage-sensitive indicator for health monitoring of a wind turbine system. The correlation analyses between experimental identified frequencies, damping values as well as mode

As more offshore wind parks are commissioned, the focus will inevitably shift from a planning, construction, and warranty focus to an operation, maintenance, and investment payback focus. In this latter case, both short-term risks associated with wind turbine component assemblies, and long-term risks related to integrity of the support structure, are highly important. This research focuses on the

A prototype of wind turbines in 5 megawatt class was built and tested at the first German offshore wind energy test field in the North Sea. In order to investigate dynamic behaviors under a complex state of loads, a continuous dynamic monitoring system was implemented by Federal Institute for Material Research and Testing (BAM). It recorded structural responses and environmental/operational variab

Health monitoring has, over the last 2-3 decades, become a topic of significant interest within the structural engineering research community, but also in the broader areas of civil and mechanical engineering. Whereas the merits of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) are generally appreciated in qualitative terms there has, as of yet, not been reported much fundamental research on the quantificatio

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems are designed for assisting owners and operators with information and forecasts concerning the fitness for purpose of structures and building systems. The benefit associated with the implementation of SHM may in some cases be intuitively anticipated or proven by past experiences but in general there appears to be no rational or systematic approach for asse

Inspections are an efficient means of enhancing the reliability of redundant structural systems subjected to fatigue.To investigate the effect of such inspections, we represent the deterioration state of a Daniels system by means of a probabilistic fatigue crack growth model of all elements, which considers stochastic dependence among element fatigue behavior. We include inspection results in the

Damage detection systems are usually developed and optimized based on the methods of damage detection system reliability. This implies that the later purpose of a damage detection system namely e.g. the employment of the structural integrity management is not directly accounted for. This paper addresses thus the issue of optimizing a damage detection system in the perspective its utilization for t

Prototypes of wind turbines of the megawatt class are to be built and tested until 2008 within a German offshore wind energy test field in the North Sea (ALPHA VENTUS). To ensure a high operational reliability of offshore wind turbines with economically acceptable repair and maintenance efforts, comprehensive diagnosis and supervision concepts are required. Automatic monitoring systems will be an

This paper establishes the model basis regarding the ultimate limit state consisting of structural, loading, and probabilistic models of the support structure of offshore wind energy converters together with a sensitivity study. The model basis is part of a risk based assessment and monitoring framework and will be applied for establishing the "as designed and constructed" reliability as prior inf

This paper develops the models for the structural performance of the loading and probabilistic characterization for the fatigue and the serviceability limit states for the support structure of offshore wind energy converters. These models and a sensitivity study are part of a risk based assessment and monitoring framework and will be applied for establishing the "as designed and constructed" relia

The fatigue deterioration modeling for welded steel structures subjected to high cycle fatigue is presented in the current document. The aim of this paper is to formulate approaches based on actual research results for the phases fatigue crack initiation, fatigue propagation and fatigue failure. The physical characteristics of the approaches are discussed in combination with the associated uncerta

A reliability-based approach to inspection planning for welded steel structures subjected to high cycle fatigue is presented in the current document. Inspections are an effective means to control the progress of fatigue deterioration and the presented approach allows to determine the minimum required inspection effort so that the considered structure complies with the given risk acceptance criteri