High strength steels in hydropower plants
9 June 2014Graz University of Technology in Austria hosted an international conference to share expertise about the design and behaviour of high strength steels utilised in hydropower plant conduits. Richard Greiner, Horst Cerjak and Gerald Zenz give more information.
The third international conference on high strength steels for hydro power plants focused on the design concepts of pressure conduits in September 2013. Initiated by Professor Horst Cerjak and organised in an interdisciplinary way under the chairmanship of the above three authors, it brought together experts from all engineering disciplines of hydro-steel structures and pressure conduit construction - starting with hydraulic engineering, rock mechanics and geology, structural engineering, mechanical engineering up to material science and welding technology.
Conference delegates came from hydropower companies, geotechnical and hydropower consultants, hydraulic steelwork suppliers, steel fabricators, steel producers and producers of welding consumables, as well as from universities. Representatives were from European countries, Japan and Africa.
The conference topics comprised planning and construction concepts of pressure conduits (armoured and unarmoured), structural steel design, life cycle evaluation, as well as material quality, welding and quality assurance. This paper highlights just a few selected aspects dealt with during the conference, which might be of interest for practitioners.
More information is available in the proceedings (ISBN 978-3-85125-292-7) and in the selected papers published in a dedicated issue of the Steel Construction journal (Steel Construction-Design and Research, Volume 6, November 2013, ISSN 1867-0520(print) and ISSN 1867-0539 online.)
Download the free paper from the March 2014 issue of International Water Power & Dam Construction.
