National Seminar on Cooling Towers Technical Session IV 18-20 January 1990, Paper No. 9 STRUCTURAL DESIGN ASPECTS OF HYPERBOLIC COOLING ‘ftOWERS N. PRABHAKAR Technical Manager Gammon India Gammon House, Veer Savarkar Marg Prabhadevi Bombay - 400 025 ‘te present day hyperbolic cooling towers arc exceptional structures in view of their sheer s: Conplenitise, the covers snvolve conridersble anount of design work on structural aspect, providing suitable structural profite. to neet the unctional feeds,the design requires consideration Crexternal applied wadings ;koth gtatic and dynanie, the Paper describes briefly salient structural fenturen, nd current practices adopted in the structural design of hyperbolic cooling towers. 1. rwrropverra over the post five decades, about 85 nyperbotic Cooling towers have Been isle dn tho country at Several thersal an nuclear pover stations, and IPSfore"towere are uncer Various tages “of Sonctruecsan, so eivu of thece towers fas Dees SeaSiendy increase from they very firet 38m igh towers at Sabarmati, bolle Ye 1934, (rig.0) tovthe present tine 14lw high tover at. Panipat which {5°"the “Country's tallest, recently Completed (Pig.2),, and this trend” for tailor foweve vild gontinge to moot the groving demande of ene inuetry. mt 16g. Figure 1: Increase in Size of Hyperbolic Figure 2 : 14lm High Cooling | Tover at Gooling Toverk in India 1934389, Panipat “Thermal Power Station stage Tit, Tallest in the Country. These tovere with very small shell thickness fre exceptional structores by their sheer eize 2. SALIENT FEATURE and sensitiveness to horizontal loads, In this per an attempt, has been mace to describe The tover consists essentially of an outside Salient’ structural “features, and to review hyperbolic shell, the principal function of applied loadings, current geeign” methods and whieh Le to create a draught of air in a similar specialised problens associated vith the design vay to a chimney, an internal cooling £111. at 2E reinforced concrete hyperbolic cooling the bottom of the shell, a cold vater basin into towers which the cold water fails from the fill and is 15 1w/6sor stored for recirculation through the plant, and’ — ater distribution system (Pig. 3). “the shell Gianetor at base and throst,, shel height, and air-inlet™ height are governed by thermic Sestgn considerations, in” degard to tover siting for Indlan climatic conditions, the design approach, Aves” the difference between the required cold water “temperature aid the wet bulb, temperature, is only 4 #eg.¢ to 5 des, Can compared to'an approach of 10 @eg.¢ to If deg. C inthe western countries, As a result, Tndian towers are larger in size ar compared ‘to thele western counterparts” designed for the” ‘sane suntan of het?renovale Rergeal aT MYPERBOLA const ‘Avion warwing Litt ‘ aN -MBATNNG ARREStOR f 1215 oF WeeeeEo.4 oneeace 6 ro Vreasin oon | SM HALF ELEVATION | HALF SECTION Figure 3: Goneral arrangement he ratio of tover height to base diameter varies “between 1.48 ana 1.18 aepencing on the tower height, tho value of Zatio deereseing wich increasing tower height, “the ratio. of throat height from the top to overall ‘peight” usually Yaries between 0:13 and 0.30, "For the Indian tovers built before 1910 when ihe tower height had just surpassed 100m, "the shape “of, the neridian was based on a single hyperbola without any offset", from” the tover nie. An offset, hyperbolic cufve was uesd between the “yeste 1870-1976 for the tovers around 120m height she towers butlt atter 1976, the meridian ie shaped ‘ty te obfeat hyperbolic carves - ene below the throat and the other above. The offset Aistance "tr, tntiuences “not” only stres @istribotion ° in the shell bat alee Suckling load “and natura frequency which are @iscyesed ater, "As considered practical for Constraction, te slope at the shell bottom “is Seually Limited 9 about "17 eg. fom the vertical. ‘The shell is supported on RC Raker coluns resting on pedestals which are integral with the peripheral val! of the cooled water basin. Im order to make direct transference of shell Yoads, the Faker columns and the Bacin wall are Snelined in’ the sane neridional plane” of the shell. The tower foundation conesets of a Continuous ring foundation, resting either on soil “or on raker piles ‘where the bearing Capacity of soil ts poor Te internal £111 structure is independent of the outside shell over, end the fountation for Af {8 unualiy considered integral with. the basin flocr.” As the internal £111 structure compres conventional colusn-bean framing vith diagonal bracings, design aspects of this structure are not dealt in the Papers 3. tonos Tie external applied loadings that affect cooling tover structure are # () wind forces (2) Eartnguake torces Gin Temperature effect Ge) Suns radiation ("Soin pressure 3 wine 3.2 Mind Pe Wind force forms the major external applied loading in the design of cooling tovers, and ie also provides. the” most common means of determining the "degree of lateral strength Sequired. by ‘the Covers, “Till the “recent Publication’ of the indian’ standard cose of Practice 15:895 (Part 3) 1987 in February 1985, the basic ‘wind pressures on large mmber of cooling tovers built since “mid-ls60s were geloulated on the basis of the earlier Code of Practice 18:e7S-196¢ "which “adopted” wing Proscure as static loads,the intensity of wnich Varying vith height and’ the zone at ‘which the Etructure” is located, The code” av Basic pressure values of 100,130 and“200 Xg/= Covering the ‘country, starting with. a unitors valve opto 30m height and’ there above increasing in value with height opto 150m, ‘The Rariman pressures specified at 150m, hesgh for three wind zones were 118,207 and 276 kgf Fespectively.. Thgee pressures vere based On formula P-0,006V" where P is the pressure in Kg/ea.n and 'V is the wind speed. in kane Thi formin gave pressure value of about 250" nore than those "calculated — by the theoretical pressure equation P-l/ipv2, "where p= density Sf air, This increase in pressure was to allov for the effect of topography, ground roushnese, gust duration, ete. 15 10/66The new code 1$:875(Part 3) ~1987 determines wind Pressures, based. on peak wind #peed of 3 second Shee with "a return period of 81 years, The [Bonee “of basic wind speed at 10m above ground fat epeeds of 33, 39, 44, 47, 50 and 5S “m/sec re shown in the cole ona ‘wind map of | the Country. The Gesign wind speed is calculated by Considering factors “Ri, Ke and X3 related to probable, life of structure,” terrain, local Ropography and size of structure separately, and their veombined effect is determined’ by Bultiplying the factors. The design wind pressure at height 2 is given by 0.6 (ye Ke 2, WO)? in wy ie" basic wind. speed in *Ys0c. where ¥y The Indian tovers built ro far have been Qevigned for" peak-wind preccuron of short Garation by static metio’, Te is very ‘well Getablished now that wind effects on the tower Gre characterised by the presence of a larse Bteaayrntate component and’ a sigpificant random fonponant doe to air turbulence,” ‘Me response Sf the random component can be calculated in the Geoqueney domain by #pectral analysis. This ESeionent contributes strongly to. the total Feaponse peaks at a rate of atleast S0t. Rithoun Ehis” theory ie well established in principle, “it is not used for practical design Ge cooking covers, mainly de to large amount of Senpurations involving ueveral factors in both eritiona! and cireuferential directions at Bittorent elevations of the tower, for separate Sater of tminile, compressive, shear forces and bending. moments "in the shell. ‘The objective approach ae adopted in many codes, "has been to Elaneiate “the loading and structural” response [nto e quasi-static method by applying a factory often called as the "Gust Factor, in the static Ghelysis of the towers ‘ne gust ‘factor depends Gn''the’ natural frequency in the” fundanereal, ode, wind speed and size of structure. In view Of fargo cise of the etruotere, the peak Feeponse oocurring ina tine interval of 1 hour duration $2 considered at appropriate for the Gesign Of cooling covers. ‘the Gust Factor method given in the new 1S Cole [G85 (Part #)ise) appears to be applicable for, regular. shaped slender” structures such as Cubes, cylingere with harely any taper, and not fer hyperbolic shaped cooling tovers. The German Men "guidelines and IRS recommendations on Cooling towers Incorporate gust” factor when Seeking ont the denign wind pressures. Te must be seid however that deficiencies 1f any, of the equivalent’ quasi-static load concept are Balanced by “a set of provisions such am sinimam Shell thickness and reinforcement, high buckling Safety, eter, which have to be observed within the Sosign ‘concept. 3.1.2 Disteabution of Wind Around the Shell ‘the cixcunferential distribution of vind around The “shell at any height is usually defined by hormalising “values at equal angle incronente from the windward direction, and is represented bya Fourier series, H=2hn cos ne. Table T wre coefficients specified by ‘Part 4, Niemann, sollenberger ~ ALagngton, and Terma Fourier Coefficients 'An' for Circunferential Distribution of Wind Around the shell WieagoaSollenberger aerna 7 et wtp 1980 68 ° 70,3923 ~0,2636 0.128056, 1 012602 013418 07435430, 2 oreo2e olsaie 07511732 3 o1s046 olsa72 01372272, a bio6« 020525 ol104ea2 5S -b:09579 -010948 | -010771 0.045549 & — Tolo1i42 “oloiee Tolea7082 5 “olotssi “0.0868 02018119 Note + 1. BS+4485 includes 6:4 internal preseure. 2 Nlenann and Sollenberger et al excluae 3, tera” ‘me. pressure cocfficiente suggested by Zerna and Mienann have been extensively ured for. Indian towers till the Britian Standard 85:4485-1975 wes published in. September 1975. The Tadian Code"t¢,11504 ~'1965 for natural draught cooling Covers, specifies the ane coefficients as in Bsr4ees, the coefficients by Hera and Sollenberger et al are based on measurements on a full-scale, hyperbolic cooling. tover having Email vertical ribe projecting outwards from the shell “surface. Ar itis seen” in’ Pig.d the Satlation in the coefficients are due to surface Toughness of the tower. oN as, 4405 & NIEMANN Taa=zeRHa == SOUENBERGER SCANLAN YBILINETON ANGLE FROM WOOWARD Ny Bea i ‘\ ‘wiv. PRESSURE, COEFFICIENT Distribution “Around ‘Shell (excluding Wind Pressure Cireuference of Gnternal suction) « 18 1/67Por the resultant purpose of comparison,’ stress for & cooling tower of the size “given in Fig.5 “are worked out for wind loads, asiag wind "pressure cootficients specified by BSreese and zerna. wino pr Bene sede meu SO2m skim THRoar DUE To wind — esc ats. o> ZERNA n+ DEAD Load onty AT @= 600-750 Figure 5 5 man Crd oe Tein eo ow oR ¥ be — << COMPRESSION TENSION Geeling, Tower for the-Purpose of Pigure 7: circumferential stress Comparison. in kame Io Figs. 6 and 7, it de geen that the str Fesultante higher. than 25'to 408 in sing cofficients of as:4t85 are those of Terna“by a8 muct as about the lower elevations which is due te snooth gurtace of shell considered in as:4fes 28 compared fe the arse effect thickness, Ne AE Ee to rough surface created by vertical other case. The significance of variation in stress resultants, hee fon the reguirenent of shell einforcesent and tower foundation: nm DUE TO WIND 8s 48s == ZERNA 2 DEAD Load Ontr, Figure Gimersaional stress Resultants in N/e. 3.1.3 Internal suetion ‘The @raught and the flow of air through the cooling “tower create an internal negative pressure or suction, anda value of | 0.4 to 0-5 is vsuelly” considered " inthe designs” the effect “of the negative internal” pressure yesults an increase in circumferential comrcce.ve forces to the extent of 40t of the. forces due to “wind,” and. corresponding reduction in’ the value of circunferential tensile forces in” the shell, The stress resultant in moridional Girection are least affected, Tt may be pricent to “consider the negative’ pressure tot che Purpose of calculating buckling vsefety, snd ignore it for calculation of "circumicrenties reinforcement in the shell. 3.1.4 Cooling Towers in Group Where hyperbolic cooling towers ate located in 2, 9100p, the values of design wind ‘pressures Seg “peeBluretcocdficients “sfoted crc eeee ste Gre much "affected due “to. “aurenaynanis interference effact depensing on the spacing of towers “or other structures of significance Bérenaions in the vicinity, and the angle of wind Girection in relation £0 the axis “oF alignsent of the towers. ""ror such career in view’ of not Rany "measured data being available on “full-size towers, aero-elastic model testing “in wind tunnel” including all adjacent’ ocal topographical features, building and ocher structures, is “necessary although the tost 1s valid for’vajues of Reynolée number (Re) upto about 3x 10°" for Laminar aisfiow as against he of more than 108” in actual condition under Farbulent wind flow. 1s 10/68Sind pressures are envianced between 10° and 40, percent when designing cooling tovers in groupe. For some of the Indian towers built in recent yeare, the “design wind pressures are based on Mine'"eunnel model tests carried out at the Indian institute of “Selence, Bangalore, The Gnhancenent factors considerée in sone. of the Indian tovers” in groups are given in Table 11, ase = rr BIT Basie wind Enhancenene No. Hoeatior preseyre Factor yeas 30m height 1. Wanakbori 1s Le 2. Keyveli Stage, 2.0 0 142 Raichue ‘ 1.60 Koteh 135 Panipat Stage TT 1.5 1.50 Kaves 147 1.573, Note : * at 10 m height 3.2, Earthquake Earthquake force attracted by a strocture is @ynanie in nature and is governed by tne ground motion and the properties of the structure Ttecl#. “the basis for earthquake design in the country se 1611893-1984 which gives two “methods of finding earthquake forces on the structure, Viz, Selamle Coefficient method and. Response Spectrum method. Tho design scianic cooffickent Bepends on several factors namely, moil~ foundation system, importance” factor, Zonal factor, basic. seismic coofticient depending on five digfornt tones covering the country, and Gn “spectral soceleration in’ “the Cine “of Jasponse spectral. method which "depends on Facurel” perfods of vibration of the structures R' critical damping factor of 98 is considered for concrete structures. lan earthquake ground motion can be represented by three orthogonal components, two "horizontal and one vertical. Tt ta normally sufficient to Gesign “the tower for only” one horizontal conponont of the earthquake Under which circular eiycunferential mode” only. the” natural frequency corresponsing to" the lowest mode. is generally in the range of 2 to 3. Ha. For Reetical method of anslysic, the mort severe Gerign horizontsl seianie coefficient, i.e. in zone'V of the country, for vibration in the Lowest mode “does not ‘exceed “0.12, In most Gasca, ts sutticient to make tn approximate Sarthguake analysie. through aiacretizetion of the ebell into «bean model’ If a more rigorous apelyeis by Response spectrin nethod is adopted, The Y"nasitun Fesponse foreach mode is considered, and the combined. response is Enlcvlated by the square foot of the sum of the Squares of "the values” fren ge. contributing sodes,, Te ie found in practice that vind loads Usually affect the design of cooling tovers more than the earthquake forces, 3.3. Renporature effect ‘The temperature difference hetween she inige and ‘outside faces of indian cooling tovers are Stually of the. ordge of 10 deg. Cand ay go upto 20" geg. C in the extrene circumstances which are “relatively lov as compared to” the Conditions “in Hurope and the USA. The temperature gradient in the shell. as calculated by ueing the sane methods az for” industrial chimneyes works to about. 5 deg. ¢, and in the fextrone circumstances metioned above'eo 10. deg. er TTse found that these temperature gradients > fot cause excessive tensile stress in the Shell, “but only. increase’ mersdional reinforcement in shell by about 108 than” those Calculated purely for self weight + wind lead 3.4 Surte Radiation the effect of sun's ratiation is to produce Stresses {n shell apposite to those arising from thermal gradients i. e., the internal cold face is" subjected to tonsion. Tt is found that for the “cage when one side of the tower is exposed to the sun and the other in shade, with a Eeaperaeure differnotial of 5 deg.” ¢, the stresses in shell are quite enell, 3.8 Soil pre ‘The cold water basin which is integral vith Pedestals “supporting raker’ column is usally Constructed below the finished grade level. The Basin wall is. designed for pressure due to Fetained foil” for a cage vhen the basin is espty., At” sone cites, where the ground-water fable is high, the design requires consideration of additional pressures due to ground water on Basin walle and uplift pressure on tover foundation. If vehicular povenent closet cooling tower is expected to take place, soil Pressufe due” to. surcharge from the vehicle Seignt. need to be considered in the design. 4, Desc aspects 4.1 structural analysis ‘the analysis of these towers ie an interesting challenge to any structura engineer in view of their shape and large size copbined with Stisymetric. horizontal loeds. Fair "share of Eevearch effort by mathematicians and practising Gngineers have Been done over the "last two Seades, particularly after. the. failure of Ferrybridge cooling tovers in UK in 2963. During the period. upto 1972, nost towers aroubd the orig were Enalysed ‘based upon membrane theory brlys “Ee has been found that membrane’ analysis for ‘shell “is satisfactory for tho purpose of Gesagn in most cases provided the shells. are suitably thiclenct at bottom and top levels to Account’ for local bending’ created by edge effect, with the rapid development of ewsputers and Finite: element pethod, analysis of shells for axisynnctrie deed ond and non-axieymnetric ina” Toad can be carried out on the assumption that the reinforces concrete shell ie feotropie, homogeneous and without cracks. The advantage of FE method ie that” the structural. modelling fan include raker ‘columns basin” walle, Pedestals, tower” foundation and seilvstrocture 1s 1/69