• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.13-20
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• 2023

A self-climbing crane (SCC) system is under development for the installation and maintenance of wind turbines. It can move vertically along the wind turbine tower by itself. One of the key components of the SCC system is the clamping pad to maintain a safe position on the wind turbine tower. The SCC system can maintain its position on the tower from the frictional force generated between the surfaces of the clamping pads and the tower. If the frictional force provided by the clamping pads are insufficient, the SCC system cannot stay in the vertical position on the tower. Therefore, the development of clamping pads with sufficient frictional force is very important for the SCC system. At the same time, the operation of the SCC system should not damage the paint coating of the wind turbine tower. In order to verify that the frictional force is sufficient and that frictional and compressive forces do not cause damage to the paint, a number of combined compression and shear loading tests were conducted using a test device prepared for this study. The details regarding the test specimens, test procedure, and test results are summarized in this paper.