Publications Details
Analytical framework for the LIFE2 computer code
The LIFE2 computer code is a fatigue/fracture analysis code specifically designed for the analysis of wind turbine components. It is a PC-compatible Fortran code that is written in a top-down modular format. In this numerical formulation, an S-n'' fatigue analysis is used to describe the initiation, growth and coalescence of micro-cracks into macro-cracks. A linear, da/dn'' fracture analysis is used to describe the growth of a macro-crack. This paper presents the numerical formulations used to implement these analyses. 16 refs., 2 tabs.