Estimation of the Tower Shape Effect on the Stress–Strain Behavior of Wind Turbines Operating under Offshore Boundary Conditions

The metal tower, or the pylon, is one of the most important elements in the construction of a wind turbine. It has the role of supporting the entire wind turbine, and it also allows access for inspection and conducting planned maintenance and repairs. Moreover, the tower ensures support for the structure and strengthens the whole assembly. It has a particularly important role, as it has to face very severe weather conditions. The present study aims to analyze the forces and moments resulting from the action of the wind on the tower of a wind turbine. Two important load cases are considered, namely, the load under operating conditions and the ultimate load under 50 year wind conditions. For this purpose, cylindrical and conical geometric shapes of the tower were chosen. These were analyzed under the action of both normal and extreme wind speeds. Then, the behavior of the two towers under the action of the wind speed for a location in the Black Sea was analyzed. Finally, in an attempt to make the structure more economical, the thickness of the shell was reduced.

Characterisation of Fibre Reinforced Resin Concrete

Resin Concrete uses polymeric resin to replace cement concrete. Four types of polyester resins were identified with Methyl methacrylate as catalyst, calcium carbonate and fly ash as fillers along with river sand and coarse aggregate size of 10mm, 6mm were used to produce resin concrete. Seventy-two trial batches were carried out for preliminary investigation targeting compressive strength of more than 80 MPa (11.6 ksi) and four batches were shortlisted. These four batches along with the addition of glass fiber were taken for detailed investigation of stress strain behavior, young�s modulus, Poisson ratio, various correlative equations among their mechanical properties and durability properties. Developed mix can be recommended for manufacturing various polymer products.

Finite Element Study on the Effect of Geometrical Parameters on the Mechanical Behavior of 3D Reentrant Auxetic Honeycombs.

Auxetic materials are a special case of cellular materials, which exhibit a negative Poisson’s ratio. This in fact is the reason behind their peculiar behavior i.e. lateral shrinkage under longitudinal compression and vice versa. Since these materials do not obey the laws of “normal” materials and go beyond common sense, they are still an emerging class which can be put to use for various purposes like self-locking reinforcing fibers in composites, controlled release media, self-healing films, piezoelectric sensors, and also be used in biomedical engineering. Their stress-strain behavior, Poisson’s ratio and impact energy absorption are controlled by bulk material as well as the unit cell geometry. Among many forms of auxetic structures available, we have chosen a three-dimensional reentrant auxetic honeycomb unit cell. The unit cell geometrical parameters were taken from literature. In this study, we try to understand the effects of strut angle through finite element simulations while keeping the bulk material, unit cell size, strut thickness and number of repetitions constant. A total of three different angles were tested, based on which we conclude that as angle increases, the Poisson’s ratio increases and Energy absorption is maximum at 30 deg.

Writing-to-learn in introductory materials science and engineering

We examine the impact of writing-to-learn (WTL) on promoting conceptual understanding of introductory materials science and engineering, including crystal structures, stress–strain behavior, phase diagrams, and corrosion. We use an analysis of writing products in comparison with pre/post concept-inventory-style assessments. For all topics, statistically significant improvements between draft and revision scores are apparent. For the stress–strain and phase diagram WTL assignments that require synthesis of qualitative data into quantitative formats, while emphasizing microstructure-properties correlations, the highest WTL effect sizes and medium-to-high gains on corresponding assessments are observed. We present these findings and suggest strategies for future WTL design and implementation. Graphic abstract

Effect of Reinforcement on Properties of Silty Sand

The variation of the stress-strain behavior and shear -parameters of reinforced silty sand is studied. The geotextiles were provided at different heights in the sample and tested in unconsolidated undrained condition. Two types of geotextiles, woven and nonwoven were used as reinforcement and the experiment was conducted at three water contents. Tests were performed on samples prepared at OMC, dry of OMC and wet of OMC in order to study the effect of water content. The results demonstrated that geotextile inclusion increases the peak strength, axial strain at failure. The sample was found to fail due to bulging between the layers. Keywords: Optimum Moisture Content, Maximum Dry Density, Unconsolidated Undrained, Deviator Stress, Normal Stress

Experiment on Mechanical Properties and Seepage Capability of Deep Tight Sandstone Under True-Triaxial Stresses Environment

The characteristics of seepage capability and rock strain during reservoir depletion are important for reservoir recovery, which would significantly influence production strategy optimization. The Cretaceous deep natural gas reservoirs in Keshen Gasfield in Tarim Basin are mainly buried over 5000 m, featuring with ultra-low permeability, developed natural fractures and complex in-situ stress states. However, there is no comprehensive study on the variation of mechanical properties and seepage capability of this gas reservoir under in-situ stress conditions and most studies on stress-sensitivity are conducted under conventional triaxial or uniaxial stress conditions, which cannot truly represent in-situ stress environment. In this work, Cretaceous tight sandstone in Keshen Gasfield was tested under true-triaxial stresses conditions by an advanced geophysical imaging true-triaxial testing system to study the stress-sensitivity and anisotropy of rock stress-strain behavior, porosity and permeability. Four groups of sandstone samples are prepared as the size of 80mm×80mm×80mm, three of which are artificially fractured with different angle (0°,15°，30°) to simulate hydraulic fracturing. The test results corresponding to different samples are compared to further reveal the influence of the fracture angle on rock mechanical properties and seepage capability. The samples are in elastic strain during reservoir depletion, showing an apparent correlation with fracture angles. The porosity decreases linearly with stress loading, where the decrease rate of effective porosity of fracture samples is significantly higher than that of intact samples. The permeabilities decrease exponentially and show significant anisotropy in different principal stress directions, especially in σH direction. The mechanical properties and seepage capability of deep tight sandstone are successfully tested under true-triaxial stresses conditions in this work, which reveals the stress-sensitivity of anisotropic permeability, porosity and stress-strain behavior during gas production. The testing results proposed in this paper provides an innovative method to analyse rock mechanical and petrophysical properties and has profound significance on exploration and development of tight gas reservoir.