Large-scale strength testing of hexcrete segment designed with UHPC for tall wind turbine towers

Author(s) : L. Peggar, S. Sritharan
Paper category : Proceedings
Book title : UHPFRC 2017 Designing and Building with UHPFRC: New large-scale implementations, recent technical advances, experience and standards
Editor(s) : F. Toutlemonde & J. Resplendino
Print-ISBN : 978-2-35158-166-7
e-ISBN : 978-2-35158-167-4
Publisher : RILEM Publications SARL
Publication year : 2017
Pages: 615 - 624
Total Pages : 10
Language : English

Abstract: To overcome the transportation and logistical challenges of using traditional land-based steel wind turbine tower designed with hub heights of 100 m (328 ft) and higher, Iowa State University (ISU) developed a precast concrete wind tower known as the Hexcrete tower. The Hexcrete tower is a hexagonal shaped, precast concrete concept developed for tall towers using both High Strength Concrete (HSC) and Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC). This tower technology was further advanced with sponsorship from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and a proof test of a full-scale section of a 120-m Hexcrete tower was designed, fabricated, and tested. The test unit successfully withstood both operational and extreme loads as a single system despite being formulated from prefabricated HSC and UHPC elements. In this paper, the preliminary results of the experimental study are discussed, including comparison of HSC and UHPC member performance, benefits of UHPC, and opportunities to further increase wind tower height.

Online publication : 2017
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros) : 0.00