Canadian Standards Association Research Articles

Assessment of C-Band Polarimetric Radar for the Detection of Diesel Fuel in Newly Formed Sea Ice

There is a heightened risk of an oil spill occurring in the Arctic, as climate change driven sea ice loss permits an increase in Arctic marine transportation. The ability to detect an oil spill and monitor its progression is key to enacting an effective response. Microwave scatterometer systems may be used detect changes in sea ice thermodynamic and physical properties, so we examined the potential of C-band polarimetric radar for detecting diesel fuel beneath a thin sea ice layer. Sea ice physical properties, including thickness, temperature, and salinity, were measured before and after diesel addition beneath the ice. Time-series polarimetric C-band scatterometer measurements monitored the sea ice evolution and diesel migration to the sea ice surface. We characterized the temporal evolution of the diesel-contaminated seawater and sea ice by monitoring the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) and polarimetric parameters (conformity coefficient (μ), copolarization correlation coefficient (ρco)) at 20° and 25° incidence angles. We delineated three stages, with distinct NRCS and polarimetric results, which could be connected to the thermophysical state and the presence of diesel on the surface. Stage 1 described the initial formation of sea ice, while in Stage 2, we injected 20L of diesel beneath the sea ice. No immediate response was noted in the radar measurements. With the emergence of diesel on the sea ice surface, denoted by Stage 3, the NRCS dropped substantially. The largest response was for VV and HH polarizations at 20° incidence angle. Physical sampling indicated that diesel emerged to the surface of the sea ice and trended towards the tub edge and the polarimetric scatterometer was sensitive to these physical changes. This study contributes to a greater understanding of how C-band frequencies can be used to monitor oil products in the Arctic and act as a baseline for the interpretation of satellite data. Additionally, these findings will assist in the development of standards for oil and diesel fuel detection in the Canadian Arctic in association with the Canadian Standards Association Group.

Design of UHPC prestressed girders for shear

AbstractBreakthrough technology of ultra‐high‐performance concrete (UHPC) introduced in the 1990s exhibits several exceptional mechanical properties that are advantageous in elements of bridge applications. Extensive research has aimed to industrialize UHPC and develop design models. This paper investigates several design models for shear, including a unified approach with that of conventional concrete based on the modified compression field theory (MCFT). An experimental database of UHPC prestressed concrete girders subjected to shear failure is compiled to evaluate model accuracy and a reliability study is conducted to establish appropriate safety factors. The analysis demonstrates that the proposed MCFT‐based model aligns well with experimental results, exhibiting a suitable level of conservatism for design. A reliability assessment of a typical prestressed girder designed according to Canadian Standards Association building and bridge loadings is performed, resulting in a structural reliability evaluation against a target reliability index. The study recommends specific strength reduction and safety factors for design approaches using UHPC.

Partially grouted masonry walls with different horizontal reinforcement types: North American-compliant experimental performance for low seismic risk areas

The type of horizontal reinforcement can play a major role in the shear response of partially grouted (PG) masonry walls, particularly in the damage pattern and the post-peak behavior. Bond beam reinforcement and bed joint reinforcement are the two reinforcement types most commonly used in practice; however, there is a lack of comparative studies between these two reinforcement strategies. To advance knowledge on this matter, this paper presents the results of an experimental study made up of 4 full-scale walls tested under cyclic lateral loading. Two height-to-length aspect ratios (H/L = 1.0, 1.86) and two reinforcement types per aspect ratio were considered. These walls were designed to reflect practical details and construction practices for PG walls in low seismic hazard areas.Lateral load tests showed that the peak strength of walls with similar aspect ratios had no significant difference regardless of the reinforcement type used. Bed-joint reinforcement proved to be a vital option as a shear reinforcement for controlling the crack width. The preliminary assessment of in-plane strength prediction equations for PG walls revealed that the general flexural analysis method provides a satisfactory estimation of flexural strength. In contrast, code-based equations had a highly conservative prediction of shear strength when imposing the upper limit. In addition, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and The Masonry Society (TMS) equations used to predict the in-plane shear strength had a noticeable discrepancy in the contribution of the equation's parameters, particularly in the axial stress, horizontal reinforcement, and the upper limit, which highlighted the need to revise and reconsider the contribution of each design parameter used by these expressions.

The aging characteristics of resistance rivet welded aluminum/steel joints

The aging characteristics of Al/UHSS resistance rivet welding (RRW) joints are investigated for the first time in this paper. Microstructure studies have shown that the aging treatment does not change the phase composition of the Al/steel mixed nugget still remaining the ferrite structure, while the precipitation, growth and dissolution occur for the microstructure of Al alloy varying with the distance from the rivet. Mechanical tests revealed that for interfacial fracture (IF) and button pullout fracture (BPF) joints, the maximum peak load increased by 13% and 26% with the prolonged aging time, respectively. The improvement in the joint strength after aging can be attributed to the relaxation of the residual stress for IF joint and the age hardening of Al sheet for BPF joint. In addition, interestingly, the accelerated artificial aging is discovered firstly in Al/steel RRW joint. The phenomenon can be attributed to the higher solid solubility of Mg and Si in softening zone of Al sheet, resulting in faster and more precipitation during the aging treatment. The precipitation kinetics indicated that the average Avrami exponent was 1.25, proving the one-dimensional linear growth of fresh nuclei of the hardening phase β''. The block shear model analysis suggested that the Canadian Standards Association, giving the calculating/test values ratio ranged from 0.88 to 1.08, could provide a more reasonable calculation, which showed that the shear failure was mainly determined by the yield of the gross shear plane, and the tension plane failed because of tensile rupture during the lap-shear test.

Comparison of Provisions for Nonslender Reinforced Concrete Columns: American Concrete Institution, Eurocode, Indian Standard, and Canadian Standards Association

Comparison of Provisions for Nonslender Reinforced Concrete Columns: American Concrete Institution, Eurocode, Indian Standard, and Canadian Standards Association

Evaluating Flexural Performance of Repaired Reinforced Concrete Beams under Static and Repeated Loading Using Non-Destructive Methods.

Deterioration of concrete structures is one of the major issues faced by the construction industry. Repair and rehabilitation are necessary to extend the service life of such structures. This study aims to investigate the effect of repair material type, length of repaired region, and loading regime on the structural characteristics of the repaired reinforced concrete (RC) beams. To achieve this goal, a total of 30 repaired and non-repaired RC beams were prepared and tested under static and repeated loading conditions. Three types of sounding-based non-destructive test (NDT) methods are employed to determine the material deterioration and sub-surface delamination after repeated loading. Results showed that under static loading conditions, full-length repaired beams had better performance than 1/3-span repaired beams. Beams repaired with cementitious repair mortar containing modified binder and cementitious repair concrete in full length had a yield strength that was 14% and 9%, respectively, higher than that of beams repaired in 1/3 span. All RC beams with full-span repair outperformed the intact beams. After repeated loading, beams repaired with cementitious repair with modified binder over full length showed a 14% improvement in yield strength compared to control samples. It was found that repair materials that had a high compressive and flexural strength are beneficial. The resonant frequency drops correlate well with the yield strength results. The formulas proposed by Canadian Standards Association (CSA) 23.3 can effectively predict the moment resistance of both intact (control) and repaired RC beams. The ratio of experimental moment resistance values to its predictions ranges from 0.91 to 1.04.

Transient Operation of Sensible Fixed-Bed Regenerators

Abstract Fixed-bed regenerator is a type of air-to-air energy exchanger and recently introduced for energy recovery application in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems because of their high heat transfer effectiveness. The testing of fixed-bed regenerators (FBRs) is essential for performance evaluation and product development. American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA) recently included guidelines for testing of FBRs in their respective test standards. The experiments on FBRs are challenging as they never attain a steady-state condition, rather undergoes a quasi-steady-state operation. Before reaching the quasi-steady state, FBRs undergo several transient cycles. Hence, the test standards recommend getting measurements after one hour of operation, assuming FBR attains the quasi-steady state regardless of test conditions. However, the exact duration of the initial transient cycles is unknown and not yet studied so far. Hence, in this paper, the duration of FBR’s transient operation is investigated for a wide range of design and operating conditions. The test standards’ recommendation for the transient duration is also verified. The major contributions of this paper are (i) quantifying the effect of design parameters (NTUo and Cr*) on the duration of transient operation and (ii) the investigation of the effect of sensor time constant on the transient temperature measurements. The results will be useful to predict and understand the transient behavior of FBRs accurately.

C&EN talks with Simon Smith, respirator filter expert

Simon Smith has a long history of developing personal protective equipment (PPE) for industrial, health-care, military, emergency response, and other applications. He specializes in respirator filters and says he finds great satisfaction in the opportunity to apply “dry” science to products that improve health and safety and sometimes save lives. Smith, 60, earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from what is now Imperial College London, then a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1985. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Royal Military College of Canada, he joined Racal Health and Safety. The company was purchased by 3M in 1998. Smith retired from 3M in late 2019 but remains active in standards development with the International Organization for Standardization, the CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association), and other national and international health and safety organizations. Jeff Johnson spoke with Smith about developing

Finite Element Analysis of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-(GFRP) Reinforced Continuous Concrete Beams.

Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is a competitive solution for the durability of reinforced structures. This paper aims to observe the moment redistribution behavior occurring due to flexural and shear loading in Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer- (GFRP) reinforced continuous concrete beams. A rectangular cross-section was adopted in this study with dimensions of 200 mm in width and 300 mm in depth with a constant shear span-to-depth ratio of 3. The reinforcement ratio for the top and bottom were equal at sagging and hogging moment regions. A finite element model was created using Analysis System (ANSYS) and validated with the existing experimental results in the literature review. Based on the literature review, the parametric study was conducted on twelve beam specimens to evaluate the influence of concrete compressive strength, transversal GFRP stirrups ratio, and longitudinal reinforcement ratio on the redistribution of the moment in beams. Several codes and guidelines adopted different analytical models. The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) S806 adopted the modified compression field theory in predicting the shear capacity of the simply supported beams. Recently, various researchers encountered several factors and modifications to account for concrete contribution, longitudinal, and transverse reinforcement. A comparison between the predicting shear capacity of the generated finite element model, the analytical model, and the existing data from the literature was performed. The generated finite element model showed a good agreement with the experimental results, while the beam specimens failed in shear after undergoing significant moment redistribution from hogging to sagging moment region. The moment distribution observed about 21.5% from FEM of beam specimen GN-1.2-0.48-d, while the experimental results achieved 24% at failure load. For high strength concrete presented in beam specimen GH-1.2-0.63-d, the result showed about 20.2% moment distribution, compared to that achieved experimentally of 23% at failure load.

The economic impacts of woodchip storage optimization: Reducing material and energy loss during transportation and storage

The use of woody biomass for domestic bioenergy provides many benefits and opportunities, but also presents a challenge regarding the supply chain required for maintaining the high quality feedstock for sustained bioenergy production. This article focuses on one aspect of that supply chain – woodchip storage. To encourage the establishment of a bioenergy market and to help ensure a safe and stable fuel source, Suzanne Wetzel and Christopher Helmeste from the Canadian Forest Service, Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CFS/CWFC) and collaborators contributed their scientific expertise to the development of a solid biofuels guide based on existing national standards from the Canadian Standard Association’s (CSA). This paper explores the potential economic impacts for bioenergy producers of implementing the CSA guidelines. These impacts include reducing material and energy loss during transportation and storage. Potential benefits were determined by cost-benefit analysis. The results of this economic impact study have significant potential implications for bioenergy producers, including the integration of economic considerations in the development of policies for biomass feedstock optimization for the Canadian bioenergy industry.

Evaluation of code provisions predicting the concrete shear strength of FRP-reinforced members without shear reinforcement

Concrete shear strength for elements without shear reinforcement and longitudinally reinforced with Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bars is considered one of the critical issues that has been enormously estimated by many researchers as well as different code provisions. The implementation of various design codes for the estimation using similar input parameters observes the broad predictive spectrum of shear strength for FRP-reinforced members without stirrups. The element cross-section width and effective depth, the ratio of shear span to effective depth, concrete compressive strength, FRP-reinforcement ratio, and FRP-modulus of elasticity are mostly used as input parameters in various standards to predict the shear strength. This paper focuses on evaluating the efficiency of predicting equations used in different code provisions to estimate the shear strength compared to the nominal shear test-results of 501 tested samples collected from different literatures. An analytical study was conducted to determine the influence of each input parameter on the shear capacity as a pre-step to improve the efficiency of different code provisions when used at specific range of input parameters to predict the shear strength of members reinforced with longitudinal FRP bars. An optimized model was proposed based on refining of the Canadian Standard Association (CSAS806-12) formula and numerical analysis. The study concluded that the CSAS806-12 formula has high efficiency for predicting shear strength of FRP-reinforced members without stirrups. While both the American Concrete Institute (ACI440.1R-15) and the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials’ (AASHTOLRFD-17) are significantly conservative in predicting shear capacity for these members. The proposed model's performance was found to be considerably higher as compared to the CSAS806-12 formula and other studied code provisions.

Effect of mat anchorage on flexural bonding strength between concrete and sand coated GFRP bars

In the present study, the impacts of using six different configurations of handmade mat anchorages on the improvement of bonding between normal concrete and GFRP bars have been investigated. To do so, 63 beam specimens of three different concrete mixes were cast. The beams were cast in accordance with RILEM recommendations and all tests were conducted under the same condition. The results indicated that the use of anchorage system could substantially enhance the bond between concrete and GFRP bars. However, the increase of both diameter and length of the anchorage did not significantly affect the bonding between concrete and GFRP bars. In addition, test results showed that the increase of anchorage number did not enhance the bond behavior of the anchorage system. Indeed, as the concrete compressive strength increased, the developed stress in GFRP bars increased. Moreover, the results have been compared with the empirical relations proposed by international codes and guidelines. The comparison showed that the suggested empirical relations by American Concrete Institute, Canadian Standard Association, Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code and Japan Society of Civil Engineers for the development length yield quite conservative results.

Comparison of the predictability of the ultimate axial strength of elliptical CFST columns using existing square and circular section-based code formulae

The elliptical hollow section has been recently included in the family of the structural steel hollow sections. This type of steel section is also used in the production of concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) members. For the elliptical CFST compression members, there is no specific design formulation in the current provisions, except the code called “Technical code for concrete-filled tubular structures” prepared by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People’s Republic of China. However, the formula proposed by this code for estimating the ultimate strength of the elliptical CFST columns was achieved by modifying the formula for predicting the ultimate strength of the square CFST members. In this context, the objective of this study is to evaluate the applicability of the existing code formulae that were proposed for the axially loaded CFST columns with rectangular or circular sections to that of columns with an elliptical section. To this, a data repository consisting of 97 experimentally tested elliptical CFST columns was compiled. Herein, the main criterion in the selection of the data was the axial loading condition. Thereafter, the prediction performance of these code formulae was assessed in terms of statistical parameters. The results indicated that the code formulae proposed for the circular-sectioned CFST columns have better prediction capability than that suggested for the rectangular sections. Among these design formulae proposed for the CFST columns with a circular section, the formulae recommended by the American Institute of Steel Construction, British Standard Institute, Canadian Standards Association, and Eurocode 4 performed the best prediction capability. These code formulae had the lowest mean absolute percent error values and R-squared values of higher than 0.8.

Visual Assessment for Detection of Diffusion Depth under External Sulfate Attack in Concrete

Abstract This paper describes two visual approaches, namely an area ratio method and a grayscale variation method, to evaluate the effective diffusion depth inside cement-based systems when subjected to external sulfate attack. The former is based on the calculation of the amount of pixels within two areas, namely the area of cross section and the undiffused area, while the latter is per the normalized color variation. Three types of binder, all conforming to the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), were employed to produce three batches of cylindrical specimens, which were immersed in a sulfate-rich environment for up to 12 wk. The effective diffusion depths, obtained by the two visual approaches described here, were compared with the sulfate content found experimentally through chemical titration. The results show that the proposed visual methods can capture the effective diffusion depths inside cement-based systems after exposure to sulfate attack. The maximum value ranged from 7.0 to 11.0 mm over 12 wk of exposure. The proposed visual techniques enable a quick assessment to decide whether further repair is warranted.

Bayesian optimization algorithm based support vector regression analysis for estimation of shear capacity of FRP reinforced concrete members

The use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rebars in lieu of steel rebars has led to some deviations in the shear behavior of concrete members. Several methods have been proposed to forecast the shear capacity of such members. Nonetheless, there are differences in the methods of considering the various parameters affecting shear capacity, and some of them provide widely scattered and conservative results. This paper presents a hybrid of the Bayesian optimization algorithm (BOA) and support vector regression (SVR) as a novel modeling tool for the prediction of the shear capacity of FRP-reinforced members with no stirrups. For this purpose, a large dataset of simply supported beams and unidirectional slabs reinforced with FRP were utilized. The model performance was assessed using several statistical performance indicators and compared with the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE), British Institution of Structural Engineers (BISE), Canadian Standard Association (CSA), and American Concrete Institute (ACI) design codes and guidelines, as well as some other artificial intelligence (AI) models. For development of the model, all the hyperparameters, i.e., kernel function type, epsilon, box constraint, and kernel scale, were optimized using the BOA technique. The k-fold cross validation approach was utilized to avoid overfitting of the model. It was found that the mean, median, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, and interquartile range of the developed hybrid model predictions are very close to the experimental results. The predicted results overlap the experimental data with a coefficient of determination of 95.5%. The plot of relative deviations and residual plots are scattered around the zero reference line with low deviation, which indicates that the model is reliable and valid. The error terms (e.g., mean absolute error, root mean square error) obtained for all specimens were 4.85 and 11.03, which are very low values. The correlation coefficient (R) and fractional bias (FB) were found to be 0.977 and 0.0033, which are very close to 1 and 0, respectively, thus implying a reliable prediction. The comparative investigations with other codes and guidelines show that the hybrid BOA–SVR model predictions are more accurate and robust than those of the other models.

Green Concrete for a Circular Economy: A Review on Sustainability, Durability, and Structural Properties.

A primary concern of conventional Portland cement concrete (PCC) is associated with the massive amount of global cement and natural coarse aggregates (NCA) consumption, which causes depletion of natural resources on the one hand and ecological problems on the other. As a result, the concept of green concrete (GC), by replacing cement with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), fly ash (FA), silica fume (SF), and metakaolin (MK), or replacing NCA with recycled coarse aggregates, can play an essential role in addressing the environmental threat of PCC. Currently, there is a growing body of literature that emphasizes the importance of implementing GC in concrete applications. Therefore, this paper has conducted a systematic literature review through the peer-reviewed literature database Scopus. A total of 114 papers were reviewed that cover the following areas: (1) sustainability benefits of GC, (2) mechanical behavior of GC in terms of compressive strength, (3) durability properties of GC under several environmental exposures, (4) structural performance of GC in large-scale reinforced beams under shear and flexure, and (5) analytical investigation that compares the GC shear capacities of previously tested beams with major design codes and proposed models. Based on this review, the reader will be able to select the optimum replacement level of cement with one of the SCMs to achieve a certain concrete strength range that would suit a certain concrete application. Also, the analysis of durability performance revealed that the addition of SCMs is not recommended in concrete exposed to a higher temperature than 400 °C. Moreover, combining GGBFS with FA in a concrete mix was noticed to be superior to PCC in terms of long-term resistance to sulfate attack. The single most striking observation to emerge from the data comparison of the experimentally tested beams with the available concrete shear design equations is that the beams having up to 70% of FA as a replacement to OPC or up to 100% of RCA as a replacement to NCA were conservatively predicted by the equations of Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE-1997), the American Concrete Institute (ACI 318-19), and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA-A23.3-14).

Management of radioactive waste from application of radioactive materials and small reactors in non-nuclear industries in Canada and the implications for their new application in the future

<abstract> <p>A large number of artificial-origin radionuclides from irradiation in small reactors and/or nuclear reactions in accelerators are currently used in non-nuclear industries such as education, oil and gas, consumer merchandise, research, and medicine. Radioactive wastes from the use of these radionuclides in non-nuclear industries include expired sealed radioactive sources, biological materials, radionuclide-containing chemicals, contaminated equipment, and very small quantities of used nuclear fuel. Although being less challenging and complex than nuclear energy production and research waste streams, these wastes are subject to the common nuclear regulations by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and are managed following domestic and international standards and guidelines made by the Canadian Standards Association, International Atomic Energy Agency, and International Organization for Standardization. Management practices used in the nuclear industry in Canada are commonly applied to the non-nuclear industry radioactive waste streams, such as waste handling, treatment, packaging, storage, transportation, clearance and exemptions, and disposal. The half-lives of radionuclides in non‑nuclear applications range from hours to thousands of years, and their activities in non-nuclear industrial applications can be as low as their clearance level or as high as the upper limits for intermediate level radioactive waste. Waste containing only short half-life radionuclides is placed in temporary storage to allow decay, and then is cleared and disposed of through non-radioactive waste routes. Non‑clearable waste materials are treated, consolidated, and managed along with radioactive waste generated from the nuclear industries at designated radioactive waste management sites.</p> </abstract>

Reinforcing of discontinuity regions in concrete deep beams with GFRP composite bars

The behavior of concrete deep beams internally-reinforced with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars around regions of discontinuity is investigated. Twelve deep beam specimens were tested. One specimen was solid whereas the remaining eleven specimens included an opening in the shear span. Test variables included the opening height, concrete grade, and GFRP reinforcing configuration around the discontinuity regions. Three different GFRP reinforcing schemes around the discontinuity regions were employed. The scheme with diagonal GFRP reinforcement crossing the bottom chord was more effective in improving the shear resistance than that having diagonal GFRP reinforcement crossing the top chord. The strength gain caused by the GFRP reinforcement was more significant for the deep beams with the greater opening height. In contrast, increasing the opening height reduced the strength enhancement caused by increasing the concrete grade. Test results were compared to the strut-and-tie modeling (STM) predictions. The STM tended to provide reasonable predictions for the nominal shear strength of the beams reinforced with GFRP bars around the discontinuity regions. Provisions of the Canadian Standards Association provided more conservative predictions for the nominal strength compared with those provided by provisions of the American Concrete Institute.

Experimental investigation of D2 conversion to DHO in soil near the Cernavoda nuclear power plant site in Romania

The current Canadian and Romanian model predictions for tritium dose following an atmospheric tritiated hydrogen gas (HT) release is based on a default Canadian Standards Association (CSA) conversion factor of HT to tritiated water (HTO) of 4.3%. The determination of an empirical site specific value for the conversion factor was essential for the CANDU Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Romania to verify if the CSA value is appropriate for use at this site. Given the role of soil characteristics on the conversion of HT to HTO, on-site experiments would provide the best evaluation of the conversion factor.The objective of the study was to define the soil HT to HTO conversion parameters specific to the Cernavoda NPP site. In June 2016, a series of experiments were conducted to meet this objective. First, the in situ deposition velocity of D2 gas, as a surrogate for HT gas, was obtained using an exposure chamber. Diffusion of D2 into the soil was then evaluated based on the measurements of DHO concentrations in the exposed soil. As soil microbes play a role in the conversion of HT to HTO, this work included a microbiological characterization of the soil, which targeted total soil bacteria (cultivable and gene-based) and hydrogen oxidizing bacteria (cultivable and gene-based). The fraction of hydrogen oxidizing cultivable soil bacteria represented 14–20% of the total cultivable bacteria population estimated as 2.8–29.2 × 105 cfu/g of soil. The empirically derived HT to HTO conversion factor was lower than the default value (4.3%). It fell between 0.9% and 2.0%. The default value is therefore more conservative than the Cernavoda site-specific derived value obtained from the study.

A cross-sectional survey of musculoskeletal disorder hazard exposures and self-reported discomfort among on-shore wind turbine service technicians

Background Servicing and maintaining wind turbines may expose wind turbine technicians (wind techs) to musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) hazards. We aimed to characterise MSD hazard exposures and identify work elements that should be prioritised for MSD prevention efforts. Methods A cross-sectional online survey methodology gathered data from 144 wind techs based on a convenience, non-probability sampling approach. The survey was developed using resources from the Ontario MSD Prevention Guideline, where cognitive interviewing yielded wind tech specific modifications. Results Climbing was the most physically demanding task, followed by torqueing/tensioning and manual materials handling (MMH). However, working in awkward and constrained postures emerged as the task most likely to cause or aggravate discomfort. Conclusions Injecting ergonomic and human factors principles into wind turbine design should be a high priority. Re-engineering tools like torque tensioning devices may reduce MSD hazard exposures associated with tasks including torqueing/tensioning and MMH. Practitioner Summary We know little about musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) hazards associated with green jobs. By surveying wind turbine technicians, we learned that MSD hazards exists, and can be addressed by better considering human factors/ergonomics principles in the design of wind turbines and the tools required for service and maintenance operations. Abbreviations: MSD: musculoskeletal disorder; MMH: manual materials handling; Wind techs: wind turbine technicians; CRE-MSD: centre of research expertise for the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders; CanWEA: Canadiarn wind energy association; HFE: human factors/ergonomics; ASME: American Society of Mechanical Engineers; CSA: Canadian Standards Association