BUCKLING BEHAVIOUR OF THE STEEL PLATE IN STEEL – CONCRETE – STEEL SANDWICH COMPOSITE TOWER FOR WIND TURBINE

To solve the problem of collapses caused by local buckling of steel plates under compression in traditional steel towers, a novel steel-concrete-steel (SCS) sandwich composite tower for a wind turbine is proposed in this paper. To study the buckling behaviour of steel plates in SCS sandwich composite towers, six specimens were designed and tested under axial compression. The specimens were designed considering the key parameters of curvature radius, thickness of the steel plate, and the spacing-to-thickness ratio (the ratio of stud spacing to the thickness of steel plate). The failure modes, normalised average stress-strain curves and load-strain curves of the specimens were assessed, and the effects of the curvature radius and the spacing-to-thickness ratio of the steel plate were analysed. The experimental results showed that the buckling strength of the steel plate increased with a decrease in the ratio of the curvature radius to the thickness of the steel plate. The finite element (FE) model of the elastic buckling stress of the steel plate of the SCS sandwich composite tower was employed and validated against the test results. In parametric study, the effects of governing parameters including the curvature radius of the steel plate, thickness of the steel plate and spacing of the studs, on the effective length factors of the inner and outer steel plates were analysed. Subsequently, the design rules of the effective length factor of the inner and outer steel plates, and the design methods of spacing of studs to prevent local instability of the inner and outer steel plates before yielding were proposed.

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