01.15: Numerical investigation of preloaded gusset plate connections between polygonal built‐up members

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the last decades, the demand for renewable energies, including wind energy, is increasing. With this increase, more powerful wind energy converters are needed, which require higher supporting structure that allow to reach zones of higher wind speed with less turbulences. The most commonly used type of the tower is steel tubular tower. Height of these towers is limited by manufacturing and transportation logistics. The solution to overcome these issues might be construction of lattice towers. The major disadvantage of lattice towers is large number of the installed bolts. Therefore, the steel hybrid tower that combines the advantages of steel lattice (lower part) and tubular tower (upper part) was proposed in SHOWTIME project. The sections used in lattice portion of the tower are built‐up polygonal sections composed of cold‐formed pieces connected together with preloaded bolts. The goal with using built‐up polygonal cross‐section is to minimize number of connections by increasing the member length. The focus in this paper is numerical investigation of preloaded gusset plate connections between these types of members. The finite element software ABAQUS has been used in the study. The aim of the investigation is to determine the failure modes of the elements and connections, as well as stiffness and ultimate resistance of the connections.