Experimental and analytical study on the load‐bearing capacity of segmented tower structures with dry joints under combined loading

Abstract

In recent years, hybrid towers have become increasingly established, especially for tall wind turbines. The concrete part of these towers, commonly constructed using segmental construction methods, consists of several circular ring segments stacked on top of each other. To reduce the amount of fabrication and erection effort, the joints between the segments are typically designed as dry ground joints. This paper deals with experimental investigations to determine the torsional load‐bearing capacity of such dry ground concrete joints subjected to combined loading of prestressing, bending, and torsion. Based on the experience of previous investigations, a test set‐up consisting of three reinforced concrete segments with circular ring cross‐sections was developed. The herein newly developed evaluation concept enabled precise identification of the failure point for each test run utilizing the measured tangential displacements of the joint. The test results clarify the weaknesses of the current design model regarding the insufficient interaction with the bending moment and show very good accordance with the new calculation model, the so‐called fiber model.