Transmission Tower in (Ultra) High Strength Concrete
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Master Thesis Transmission Tower in (Ultra) High Strength Concrete Name : Shayer Nijman Studentnr. : 4168135 University : TU Delft Faculty : CiTG Master : Structural Engineering Specialization : Concrete Structures Company : Movares Nederland Period : 01 May-20 Dec 2013 Committee Department head: Prof.dr.ir. Dick Hordijk Phone number: +31 40 247 4890 Email address: [email protected] Thesis supervisor 1: Dr.ir.drs. René Braam Phone number: +31 15 278 2779 Email address: [email protected] Thesis supervisor 2: Ir. Sander Pasterkamp Phone number: +31 15 278 4982 Email address: [email protected] Company: Movares Nederland Department: Infrastructuur, Constructief Ontwerpen Address: Leidseveer 10 Postcode: 3511 SB Postbus: Postbus 2855 Postcode postbusnumber: 3500 GW City: Utrecht Phone number: +31 30 265 5555 Fax: +31 20 267 6464 Internet site: http://movares.nl/ Company supervisor: Ir. Jan van Wolfswinkel Function: Adviseur Constructief Ontwerpen Phone number: +31 30 265 5167 Email address: [email protected] Shayer Nijman Page i Abstract The power grid in the Netherlands will be fundamentally renovated and expanded in the coming years. Therefore new concepts of transmission towers should be considered, with an architecturally approved design not only with a long lifespan, but with the smallest visual impact on the environment, while simultaneously being execution and cost friendly, as well as environmentally sustainable. Movares Nederland has been doing research on different alternatives to find the optimal shape of the described concept since 2005. One of the possible alternatives is to use conical tube masts of prestressed (Ultra) High Strength Concrete. The choice between the HSC and UHSC and the extent and manner of prestressing are part of the design. Aside from the costs, other important factors are the speed of construction and minimal disturbance of the environment. The challenge is the making of an intelligent design, which utilizes the material concrete in the most efficient manner, while at the same time adhering to all the design criteria. The objective of the thesis was to determine whether (ultra) high strength concrete is a viable option for transmission towers according to the new concept. A comparative analysis was performed with various methods of producing and execution of a transmission tower in UHSC. In order to obtain the most favorable method, the sustainability and costs of the entire project were also taken into consideration. The design process of the transmission was divided in several steps. First to attain an objective result a number of variants were introduced. These variants were based on three different concrete strength classes, namely Ordinary Strength Concrete (OSC), High Strength Concrete (HSC) and Ultra High Strength Concrete. For each of the concrete strengths both the reinforced variant, as well as the prestressed variant were examined. Secondly calculations were performed for all these variants. These results were verified with a mathematical program, resulting in a preliminary design. After the preliminary design was established, the production and execution process could be studied. To ensure a smooth execution process at the building site later on, an efficient production method had to be devised. Various production methods and materials were studied, each with their own pros and cons. The use of steel moulds for each separate segment proved to be a reasonable choice. The execution of transmission towers in concrete, is a vital aspect of the entire process. While examining this process, factors that influence the initial design should be scrutinized. One such an important aspect is the prestressing. Because the transmission towers will be designed as conical tube masts with a small wall thickness, it was decided that internal prestressing would be too difficult to apply. Thus external prestressing was chosen to be applied on the inside of the masts. The anchorage of the prestressing can then be achieved through blind anchors. Furthermore it was found that the amount of prestressing can be reduced at increasing heights. After a segment is placed, the prestressing can then be anchored at the top of this segment. Shayer Nijman Page ii Another important aspect of the execution process are the various connections. The transmission tower has three main connections that must be worked out in detail, namely the foundation- column connection, the segment-segment connection and the column-isolator connection. After considering a wide variety of options, suggestions were made as to which connections would be the most effective for the tube masts. The parameters established for the production and execution process, yielded the final design. In this final design both the mast dimensions and the prestressing configuration were optimized. It was found that for a tube mast with a fixed foot diameter of 2200 mm, a top diameter of 500 mm and a height of 57 m, the necessary wall thickness for a tube mast made in OSC is 420 mm, in HSC is 145 mm and in UHSC is 75 mm. Subsequently, the sustainability and costs of the masts were looked at in detail. The sustainability of the transmission tower depends mainly on the amount of emitted and stored energy (i.e. insulating properties), throughout the entire life of the structure. For both the sustainability and the cost considerations, two extra variants were introduced, namely a traditional steel truss mast and steel conical tube masts. Comparison of these two steel variants with the three concrete variants in terms of sustainability, revealed that the steel truss variant was the most sustainable alternative followed by the UHSC and the HSC alternative. For the cost consideration the steel truss mast once again proved superior with a total cost of € 421.000. Following closely was the steel tube mast with € 534.000, the UHSC variant with € 566.000 and the HSC variant with € 597.000. Finally, all acquired results were considered in a comparative analysis of the variants. Both a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and a Value Matrix(VM) were used to determine a ranking for the variants, based on: Lowest total costs (1st steel truss, 2nd steel tube, 3rd UHSC); Best total performance (1st UHSC, 2nd HSC, 3rd steel tube); Best performance/costs ratio (1st steel truss, 2nd UHSC tube, 3rd steel tube). The outcome of this thesis reveals that UHSC, with the best total performance, is a viable option for transmission towers. In addition, this comparative analysis also provides an easy tool for variant selection, since the choice of the best variant is governed by the specific requirement of the client. Keywords: High Strength Concrete (HSC), Ultra High Strength Concrete (UHSC), Transmission tower, Tubular columns, Prefab segments, Reinforced concrete, External prestressing, Sustainability, MCDA, Value Engineering. Shayer Nijman Page iii Contents Committee ....................................................................................................................................... i Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii List of figures ................................................................................................................................ ix List of tables................................................................................................................................ xiii Preface ........................................................................................................................................ xvii 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Problem statement and research questions ........................................................................... 1 1.2 Thesis objectives ................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Scope of the thesis ................................................................................................................ 2 1.4 Method of research ............................................................................................................... 2 1.5 Outline of the thesis .............................................................................................................. 3 2. Transmission towers ................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 Electricity .............................................................................................................................. 4 2.2 Power lines ............................................................................................................................ 4 2.3 Underground cables .............................................................................................................. 6 2.4 Transmission towers ............................................................................................................. 7 2.5 Mast parts .............................................................................................................................. 8 2.6 Mast functions ....................................................................................................................... 9 2.7 Types of masts ...................................................................................................................