Topic of presentation: Recent Research Progress in the Structural Design of Tubular Steel Wind Turbine Towers
Charis Gantes is Professor and Director of the Institute of Steel Structures in the School of Civil Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). He attended the German Highschool of Athens (Dörpfeld Gymnasium), and then obtained a Civil Engineering Diploma from NTUA in 1985, and a Master’s (1988) and Ph.D. (1991) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Since 1994 he has been faculty member at NTUA, where he is teaching the courses “Steel structures I”, “Steel structures II”, “Nonlinear behavior of steel structures”, “Cable and membrane structures” and “Steel structures for marine applications”.
His research activity is in the area of structural behavior, analysis and design under extreme loads, including seismic, wind and blast, leading structures to nonlinear response, with emphasis on steel structures, and in the evaluation of the ultimate strength of steel members, connections and structures. He is particularly interested in steel structures for energy applications, such as wind turbine towers, buried pipelines and power plant facilities. He is author of one book in English, on deployable structures, and three books in Greek, on design of unconventional steel structures, nonlinear behavior of steel structures and tension structures, and editor of two collective volumes as well as author of two more. He is also the author or co-author of more than 10 book chapters, 115 peer-reviewed journal papers and 190 conference papers. His research work has received more than 2500 citations, excluding self-citations and citations by co-authors.
He is member of the Greek mirror Committee of CEN/TC250, ELOT/TE67 Committee on “Eurocodes”, coordinator of the Greek mirror Group of CEN/TC250/SC3, ELOT TE67/OE3 “Eurocode 3” and representative of Greece in Committee CEN/TC250/SC3 for Eurocode 3 of the European Committee for Standardization, CEN. He was Member of two CEN Project Teams on Eurocode 3, namely SC3/T1 on EN 1993-1-1 (General rules and rules for buildings) and SC3/T11 on EN 1993-3 (Masts, Towers and Chimneys), which were part of the development of the second generation of Structural Eurocodes. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) and correspondent for Greece of Structural Engineering International (SEI), the journal of the International Association for Bridges and Structural Engineering (IABSE). He is member of the Executive Council of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) and Vice-President of the Greek Steel Structures Research Society. He is member of several Greek and international scientific and professional organizations, reviewer for more than 50 international journals and co-organizer of several Greek and international conferences. He was invited speaker at several Greek and international Universities and continuing education seminars in Greece and Cyprus.
In addition, he is active in structural design and consulting in Greece and abroad, having participated in design projects including steel and reinforced concrete buildings, condition assessment and strengthening of old steel, reinforced concrete and masonry structures, long-span steel structures for athletic, industrial and commercial facilities, power plant and waste treatment plant structures and other energy related industrial facilities, wind turbine towers and their foundation, buried pipelines transporting oil and natural gas, port and marine facilities, guyed towers, temporary bracing for deep excavations, structures for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, highway infrastructure projects including structures for the Athens peripheral highway “Attiki Odos”, underground structures including tunnels and stations for the Athens subway “Attiko Metro” and he has participated in expert committees for the resolution of technical differences.