Prestressed CLT wind-turbine towers

Within a research project at the Technical University of Munich, an optimized construction was developed for wind turbine towers made of cross-laminated timber. The tower shaft consists of panels of cross-laminated timber in transportable dimensions, which are joined in a station at the bottom of the tower to form polygonal tower sections, which are subsequently connected afterwards as prefabricated elements to form the tower. The horizontal joints are realized by form-fitting contact. Stresses in bending tension in the longitudinal direction of the tower, mainly due to the effects of winds, are superposed by permanently effective vertical prestressing forces. By means of an example a tower with a hub height of 100 m, all building conditions, the load bearing capacity and long-term behavior were investigated and calculated. Prestress losses are predictable and not significantly higher compared to vertically prestressed towers of reinforced concrete.