Author(s): Xu Bin, Xie Yongjian, Li Zhengchao, College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University
Pages: 1033-1041
Year: 2015 Issue:  7
Journal: Renewable Energy
Keyword:  prestressed concrete-steel hybrid wind turbine tower; perfobond strip connection; finite element method; elastic analysis; elasto-plastic analysis;
Abstract: The prestressed concrete-steel hybrid tower is a suitable structure system for large-scale wind turbine and is efficient for solving the transportation problems for wind firms in mountain area.The connection between the prestressed concrete and steel tubular is critical. This paper proposes a perfobond strip connection method and its feasibility is studied with finite element method with a 77.5 m hybrid wind turbine tower. After modelling the proposed perfobond strip connection, the elastic and elasto-plastic analysis are carried out to investigate the stress distribution on the steel connection, the concrete and the strip subjected to prestress and the most unfavorable combination of design loads. Results show that the stiffness of the proposed connection can be improved and the stress distribution is more uniform in the transition region. Moreover, the strip can transfer shear force to concrete effectively after concrete has plastic deformation. The proposed connection method has the potential to be used as a promising way to connect the prestressed concrete tower with the steel part for prestressed concretesteel hybrid wind turbine tower.