Validated AE application for continuous monitoring of the structural condition of the supporting structure of offshore wind turbines

Abstract

It is widely accepted that the use of acoustic emission technology offers unique advantages for the inspection and structural health monitoring of structures. Even though this method is quite evolved, there are still challenges in its application largely due to its complex behaviour and there are also other factors to consider such as numerous possible vibrational modes, dispersion, attenuation, noise and multiple reflections etc. There are also challenges in the use of this technology for offshore structures especially when the structures are totally submerged in water and when there are different materials used for construction. In order to address these issues and determine the applicability of these methods, a study has been carried out that uses finite element analysis and an experimental study to understand their behaviour in an offshore wind turbine monopole has also been conducted.