Determination of the Most Effective Location of Environmental Hardenings in Concrete Cooling Tower Under Far-Source Seismic Using Linear Spectral Dynamic Analysis Results

The feeling of the need to build longer cooling towers increases with the development of the capacity of hydropower plants. So the engineers are trying to design leaner towers, with more buckling resistance using environmental hardening rings. Several studies have investigated the effect of wind strength on these structures, but the effect of seismic acceleration on these structures has been less studied. In this study, by investigating the results of linear spectral dynamic analysis, the optimum location of environmental hardening rings is determined under the influence of earthquake acceleration. The effect of thickness and number of hardening rings on the performance of the tower is also investigated, and the optimum relationship between these two parameters is extracted technically and economically. Different analytical methods can be used to investigate this issue, but using the spectral analysis method besides considering the buckling effects of the tower crust is the most appropriate analytical method for these types of structures.