Assessment and monitoring of reliability and robustness of offshore wind energy convverters

Offshore structures are subject to deterioration mechanisms and a generally hostile loading environment; an adequate structural performance must thus be ensured taking into account the joint effect of deterioration and extreme load events. In the last decades substantial advances in maintenance and inspection

planning of offshore structures have been achieved (Faber et al. (2001), Moan (2005)). The focus here was on fatigue deterioration. Further developments of these approaches have been made with the focus of practicability (Straub (2004), Faber et al. (2005)).