Large-Scale Bending Tests of Slender Tapered Spirally Welded Steel Tubes
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 12
Abstract
A new manufacturing process allows for the production of tapered spirally welded steel tubes. This paper describes a series of eight large-scale tests examining the behavior of such tubes in flexure and investigates the impact of imperfections on the flexural strength of the tube. The tests are performed on tapered circular steel tubes with diameters between 0.7 and 1.1 m and maximum diameter-to-thickness ratios between 200 and 350. Specimen geometries are selected to provide flexural test data at slenderness ratios not commonly tested in the literature and to be representative of tapered tubes applied as wind turbine towers. The geometries of the specimens are measured with laser scanners before and during testing to characterize initial imperfections and the evolution of local buckling. Results are compared to design strengths per Eurocode EN 1993 1-6. All specimens meeting Eurocode manufacturing quality requirements exceed predicted strengths. The location and orientation of the local buckling region are correlated with the spiral seam welds on the specimens.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge funding through the U.S. National Science Foundation, through grants CMMI-1334122 and CMMI-1334489, and additional support from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the U.S. Department of Energy. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Science Foundation or other funding agencies. The assistance of the staff at the STReSS Lab at Northeastern University (Kyle Coleman, Michael MacNeil, and Kurt Braun) and Keystone Tower Systems (Roz Takata and Daniel Ainge) is also greatly appreciated.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 12 • December 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 24, 2016
Accepted: May 3, 2016
Published online: Jul 18, 2016
Published in print: Dec 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Dec 18, 2016
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