Reliability Analysis for Adhesive Bonded Composite Stepped Lap Joints Loaded in Fatigue

This paper describes a probabilistic approach to calculate the reliability of adhesive bonded composite stepped lap joints loaded in fatigue using three- dimensional finite element analysis (FEA). A method for progressive damage modelling is used to assess fatigue damage accumulation and residual strength under fully reversed cyclic loading based on stiffness/strength degradation. The FEA simulations are conducted using the commercial FEA code ANSYS 12.1. A design equation for fatigue failure of wind turbine blades is chosen based on recommendations given in the wind turbine standard IEC 61400-1, where partial safety factors are introduced together with characteristic values. Asymptotic sampling is used to estimate the reliability with support points generated by randomized Sobol sequences. The predicted reliability level is compared with the implicitly required target reliability level defined by the wind turbine standard IEC 61400-1. Finally, an approach for the assessment of the reliability of adhesive bonded composite stepped lap joints loaded in fatigue is presented. The introduced methodology can be applied in the same way to calculate the reliability level of wind turbine blade components loaded in fatigue.