ABSTRACT
The following variation for the initial construction cost is adopted, CI(M), being “M” the bending moment of design:
I C if M M
C C if M M ( )M = <( )M M
⎧ ⎨⎪ ⎩⎪
(1)
where C0 is the cost that would be obtained even if the structure is not designed to withstand lateral loads; M0 is the bending moment that the structure should resist in this case; CR and α are constants of the initial cost function. If Equation 1 is normalized with respect to C0, we have:
CI C
if M M
K if M M ( )M
=
+ ( )M M ⎧ ⎨⎪ ⎩⎪0
1 α
(2)
where K = CR/C0. One of the objectives of this work is to find the K and α parameters that provides the best description of the initial cost, as a function of “M” the bending moment, for steel towers and masts, as an idealization of wind turbine supports.
