TY - CONF A1 - Pittner, Andreas A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Automated arc welding of support structures for offshore wind turbines N2 - Offshore wind energy plays an important role for the desired transition towards a carbon dioxide free industry within the next decades. However, the grounding of the offshore wind plants governs the overall installation process besides bureaucratic bottlenecks. The application of lightweight principles in steel construction, e.g. the usage dissolved load-bearing structures, so called Jackets foundations, offer great potential in reducing the resource consumption, especially with respect to the needed amount of steel. In this context this paper focuses on a fully digitalization of the welding manufacturing and as well as testing chain to enable a fully automated manufacturing as well as quality assessment of tubular nodes as key element of Jackets foundation structures. Furthermore, the relationship between the seam shape geometry and resulting fatigue strength is evaluated by numerical methods incorporating bionic principles. It is shown that tubular nodes can be welded fully automatically taking geometry tolerances into account. Moreover, the seam shape could be manufactured as requested by the numerical models which offers great potential for an extended lifetime. Subsequently, the improvements in resource efficiency and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions are evaluated by a life-cycle-assessment. T2 - IIW Annual Assembly 2022 Tokyo, Japan CY - Tokyo, Japan DA - 21.07.2022 KW - Offshore wind turbines KW - Support structures KW - Automated welding KW - Lightweight principles PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56653 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Pittner, Andreas A1 - Fabry, Cagtay A1 - Thiele, Marc A1 - Artinov, Antoni A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Automated Arc Welding and Sensor Based Quality Assessment for Enhancing Fatigue Strength and Structural Reliability of Offshore Wind Turbine Supports N2 - Offshore wind energy plays a crucial role in achieving a carbon dioxide free industrial sector in the coming decades. However, foundation systems for offshore wind turbines significantly impact the overall installation process, posing technical and regulatory challenges. Adopting lightweight design principles in steel construction such as dissolved load bearing structures in jacket foundations offers substantial potential for reducing resource consumption, particularly steel usage. This presentation explores the complete digitalization of welding manufacturing and testing processes, enabling fully automated production and data driven quality assessment of tubular nodes, which are vital components of jacket foundations. The study also investigates the relationship between seam geometry and fatigue strength inspired by bionic design principles. The results demonstrate that tubular nodes can be welded entirely automatically, accommodating geometric tolerances, and that seam geometries ca n be precisely manufactured according to suggestions from e.g. numerical models or other sources . These advancements significantly enhance the fatigue strength and service life of offshore wind turbine support structures. T2 - IIW Annual Assembly 2025 CY - Genova, Italy DA - 23.06.2025 KW - Automated gas metal arc welding KW - Quality assessment and control KW - Support structures KW - Fatigue PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65232 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -