Objective
The over all objective is to improve competitiveness of steel towers used to support multi mega-watt wind turbines. An integrated view on the optimisation of the whole steel tower is based on an analysis of the limiting criteria that govern wind tower design. Fatigue is one restraint for design of a more economical towers and use of high strength steel.
One solution is an improvement of the existing flange detail and another to use of friction type joint to allow higher strains in the shell. A detailed program is conceived to verify these two innovations. Another limitation is shell buckling where the resistance is strongly related to imperfections. An optimal balance between fabrication costs and resistance will be sought.