Just about everything in a wind turbine is held together with bolts. Wind turbines, however, must tolerate a vibration level infrequently encountered by conventional factory equipment. And there is more working against bolts than vibration. In a nutshell, the reliability of a joint may be compromised by bolt relaxation, vibration, fatigue, and corrosion.
Even though wind turbine OEMs specify the bolt size, material, and tightening torque, these fasteners all behave the same way. Here what wind techs should know about them.(…)
