Response-Based Assessment of Operational Limits for Mating Blades on Monopile-Type Offshore Wind Turbines

Installation of wind-turbine blades on monopile-type offshore wind turbines is a demanding task. Typically, a jack-up crane vessel is used, and blades are individually lifted from the vessel deck and docked with the preinstalled hub. During the process of mating, large relative motions are developed between the hub and root due to combined effects of wind-generated blade-root responses and wave-generated monopile vibrations. This can cause …