Abstract
The tripod foundation structure is typically used for offshore wind turbines, in which fatigue design under complex load conditions involving axial force, in-plane bending moment, out-of-plane bending moment, and torque is vital. Experimental data show that the hot spot stress (HSS) obtained using the Det Norske Veritas recommended method may lead to inaccurate evaluation of the fatigue life of multiplanar tubular joints. Therefore, this study investigates the HSS distribution along the weld seams of a three-planar tubular joint under combined load cases using model tests. This is in parallel to the experiment on basic loads reported in the companion paper. The geometric stress at key locations and the peak values of the stress concentration factor under 17 load cases were analyzed. The influence of torque on the HSS was statistically investigated using experimental data. An indirect method to evaluate HSS induced by complex load conditions is proposed based on the summary of the companion paper.
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