STANDARD SECTION DESIGN OF FRP DSCT TOWER SUPPORTING 3MW WIND TURBINE

Abstract

A modular FRP DSCT (Fiber Reinforced Polymer Double-Skinned Composite Tubular) wind power tower was suggested and its standard section supporting 3MW wind turbine was designed. An FRP DSCT tower is composed of two concentric FRP tubes and concrete filled between the inner and outer tubes. A DSCT structure has hollowed section which reduces its self-weight. Due to inner and outer tubes, concrete is confined to increase strength and ductility. The performance of the new-type wind power tower was assessed via structural analysis. Design and analysis were carried with AutoDSCT and CoWiTA programs with consideration of confining effect of concrete and large displacement by wind turbine weight itself. The bottom diameter of the tower was set as 4.5 m as a standard. The towers which have 100%, 95%, 90% and 85% of bottom diameter were considered for design. Top diameter of the tower was set as 3.6m. For the consideration of constructing and installing the tower, each tower was divided into modules. The module sections were designed on the basis of the idea that module sections should satisfy the required bending moment and axial load. As a result, bottom diameter of 4.5m with hollow ratios below 0.85 satisfied the required load capacity and the bottom diameter of 95%, 90% and 85% with the hollow ratios below 0.82, 0.76 and 0.7 satisfied the required capacity.