A Review of Challenges and Opportunities Associated with Bolted Flange Connections in the Offshore Wind Industry
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations
3. Bolted Flange Connections
4. Design Criteria for Bolted Joints
5. Challenges in Bolted Joints
5.1. Challenges in the Assembly Process
5.2. Challenges during the Operational Phase
6. Specific Issues Associated with Bolted Joints
6.1. Short-Term Relaxation of Individual Bolts
6.2. Bolt Material Selection
6.3. Strength of the Threads
7. Miscellaneous Setups Associated with Bolts and Failure Mechanisms
7.1. Washers
7.2. Lubricants
7.3. Coatings
7.4. Gaskets and Shimming
7.5. Self-Loosening
7.6. Fatigue Failure
7.7. Corrosion
7.8. Galling
7.9. Inspection and Maintenance of Bolted Connections
8. Discussion
9. Conclusions
- The advantages of bolted flange connections include the provision of direct load path through the primary steel alone, thereby avoiding slippage, reducing steel requirements compared with grouted connections, the absence of curing time, and easiness to inspect and monitor the MP–TP connection.
- The challenges associated with bolted flange connections include material selection issues, short-term relaxation of bolts, issues associated with load distribution in threads, and static failure of bolted flange.
- The main cause of short-term relaxation is the embedment that occurs mostly owing to surface irregularities as well as time-dependent creep deformation.
- The consequence of temperature differential can either increase or decrease the clamping force depending on the thermal expansion and contraction coefficient of the materials employed in bolted connections.
- The setups associated with bolted joint such as washers, lubricants, coatings, and gaskets play a pivotal role in creating and maintaining integrity in bolted joints.
- The failure modes observed in bolted joints include self-loosening, fatigue failure, corrosion, and galling.
- An expected trend in the bolted flange connection is the increased usage of tensioning tools compared with torqueing applications.
- Further studies in the offshore wind industry can enable the optimal use of bolted flange connections in design, manufacturing, installation, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning phases.
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Type of Foundation | Characteristics |
---|---|
Gravity foundation (Figure 3b) |
|
Monopile foundation (Figure 3c) |
|
Suction bucket foundation (Figure 3d) |
|
Tripod foundation (Figure 3e) |
|
Jacket foundation (Figure 3f) |
|
Floating foundation (Figure 3g) |
|
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Mehmanparast, A.; Lotfian, S.; Vipin, S.P. A Review of Challenges and Opportunities Associated with Bolted Flange Connections in the Offshore Wind Industry. Metals 2020, 10, 732. https://doi.org/10.3390/met10060732
Mehmanparast A, Lotfian S, Vipin SP. A Review of Challenges and Opportunities Associated with Bolted Flange Connections in the Offshore Wind Industry. Metals. 2020; 10(6):732. https://doi.org/10.3390/met10060732
Chicago/Turabian StyleMehmanparast, Ali, Saeid Lotfian, and Sukumara Pillai Vipin. 2020. "A Review of Challenges and Opportunities Associated with Bolted Flange Connections in the Offshore Wind Industry" Metals 10, no. 6: 732. https://doi.org/10.3390/met10060732