Offshore wind turbines are subjected to cyclic loads from wind and waves, ultimately
resulting in a fatigue-driven design. These cyclic loads result in cyclic shell forces above the
bolted ring flange and ultimately into the cyclic loading of the bolt tension forces. To model
the transfer of the shell forces into the bolt, Load Transfer Functions (LTF) are used, of which
the tri-linear function according Schmidt/Neuper is the most known approximation but more
contemporary approaches exist. As the LTF has a significant impact on the estimated fatigue …